On The Run
by quietthinker
Summary: Cindy's mom loses it, and now Jimmy and Cindy must escape her wrath. This just might be their greatest challenge yet.
1. Story of a Girl

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Thank you, good sir," Cindy said as Jimmy opened the door to the Candy Bar for her.

"No problem, mad' am," Jimmy joked as he followed her inside. They took a seat at a booth near a window and grabbed their menus. "Wow, the place sure is empty," he remarked while scanning the listed meals.

"Well, it's only seven o'clock," Cindy reminded him.

"What'll it be, kids?" a kindly old woman asked while approaching the table.

"Orange juice and two scrambled eggs," Jimmy said.

"Hot chocolate and two pancakes," Cindy said. They both handed their menus to the elderly woman after she jotted down their orders. Their eyes briefly followed her as she went into the kitchen.

"You know," Cindy said, "you don't have to pay for me. It's not that big of a deal."

Jimmy shook his head. "Now, I'm a man of my word if nothing else. I lost the bet fair and square, so I'll treat you to breakfast." Jimmy rapped his fingers against the table while trying to keep his eyes off of Cindy. "So, guess I was wrong. Who knew spiders weren't insects?"

Jimmy and Cindy both nervously laughed. They breathed a sigh of relief as their meals arrived. "Hey, can you pass me the butter...never mind, I'll get it," Cindy said while reaching across the table.

"No, it's fine," Jimmy told her while reaching for it as well. They both blushed feverously as their hands briefly connected. Cindy forgot her need for the margarine and started to eat her pancakes.

Jimmy looked up from his meal to see Cindy staring at him. They both turned their attention back to their food.

"So, beautiful day, huh?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy just nodded while wiping a few strands of hair out of her face. "Your, uh, essay for school was...very good," she told him, struggling to get those last two words out.

Jimmy nodded, a little surprised. "Thanks. Yours was...also good."

Cindy also nodded and tried to control her shaking foot. "So, Jimmy. It'll be a while before Libby and the others are up, so, uh, do you want to go for a walk or something?"

Jimmy started coughing and hit his chest. "I, well, I mean, I supp..." Jimmy's eagerly awaited response was cut off by a large crashing noise outside the restaurant.

Cindy and Jimmy eyed each other and sighed. Jimmy pulled a few dollar bills out of his pocket and left it on the table next to the bill. He and Cindy ran outside to investigate.

They stopped on the sidewalk as they looked across the street. Sheen emerged from what looked like two trash cans and a computer chair. He spun around before falling to the ground. Carl and Libby emerged from down the street and ran up to him.

"Sheen! Are you ok?" a concerned Libby asked while grabbing his arm and pulling him off the ground.

Sheen clutched his head and stumbled around. "That's one small step for man...one...giant leap...for me." He shook his head and looked around. "Dang! I thought for sure I would make it to the moon."

Jimmy and Cindy ran up to their three friends and investigated the scene. "What's going on?" Jimmy asked while inspecting the wreckage.

"Sheen built a rocket!" Carl enthusiastically shouted.

Libby shook her head. "No he didn't, Carl. That is not a rocket. The Strato XL is a rocket."

Sheen picked up a scrap piece of metal and sighed. "I don't get it. Jimmy's rocket works!"

Libby threw her hands up in the air and shouted, "Jimmy's rocket has an engine!"

Carl and Sheen looked at each other, then at the rocket. "Ohhhhh," they both said at the same time.

Jimmy looked around feverishly. "Where the heck did you guys launch this thing from?"

"My roof," Sheen sadly told him.

Cindy and Jimmy exchanged confused glances. "But that's like half a mile away!" they both shouted.

"How did it get this far?" Jimmy inquired.

"Catapult," Libby, Carl, and Sheen told him.

Jimmy clutched his head and frowned. "Wait a second, there is no way that a catapult could...you know what? I don't want to know."

Libby finally realized that Jimmy and Cindy were together. "Hey, what are you two doing here this early? Together?"

Cindy and Jimmy nervously laughed and rubbed their arms. Cindy put on that huge fake smile of hers and looked down. "Well, uh, we had to, you know, do the thing."

"For the person," Jimmy added.

"For the reason," Cindy finished.

They both nervously laughed. Libby took a step away from them, a little scared. "Ok then. Well, we might as well head back to my place; it's too early to do something. Come on guys," she said while heading back home. Everyone shrugged and followed her.

**Author's Note: I'm sorry I deleted my last story, _The New Intergalactic Showdown. _I had reached a dead-end and had no idea how to continue. This time I'm being careful and planning the story out ahead of time. **

Sorry I haven't been updating lately, but it's tough with school. But I have a feeling this new story is going to be good.

And please review, I really need to know what you think. It's been awhile since I've written everything, and I need to know if I'm still doing good. So it would mean a lot to me if you would tell me what you think.


	2. Nice Guys Finish Last

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"JIMMY! HELP!" someone shouted outside of Jimmy Neutron's locked bedroom door.

Jimmy rolled out of his bed and crashed onto the floor, woken by the pleading screams. "What?" he groggily asked while walking over to his door and unlocking it.

As soon as Jimmy turned the doorknob Cindy came running into his room. "Cindy?" he asked in surprise. He looked back out the door to see Cindy's mom running up the stairs from the living room. "Mrs. Vortex?" he said, even more confused.

"Jimmy, close the damn door!" Cindy shouted while looking around the room and grabbing a lamp. She held it high above her head, prepared to slam it down lest her mother enter.

Jimmy looked at Cindy like she was insane, but closed the door and locked it. He leaned against it and shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up. "What are you doing here? It's midnight," he asked her, still-half asleep.

Suddenly a knife pierced through the wooden door, mere centimeters from Jimmy's head. That woke him up. He jumped away from the door and landed on his bed. He glared at Cindy. "You and your mom have a fight?"

Cindy nodded. "Just get us out of here!"

Jimmy ran to the corner of his room and flipped Goddard on. "Fly cycle mode!" he commanded. He grabbed a hold of his dog's leg, as did Cindy, as it flew out his window and down towards the ground.

Jimmy quickly pulled a hair out of his head and held it up to the DNA scanner. Cindy tapped her foot on the ground. "Can you move it!"

"I'm doing it as fast as I can!" Jimmy shouted back. He shoved the door open and ushered Cindy inside.

Jimmy slammed the door shut behind them and ran further into the lab. He walked to his main computer and turned on the surveillance system. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that Mrs. Vortex was still in his house.

He spun his chair around and stared at Cindy. "Mind telling me what is going on?"

Cindy was pacing around and rubbing her head, trying to keep it together in front of Jimmy. "Short version? Well, mom and dad getting divorced. I chose to live with dad. Mom kind of," Cindy extended her pinky and thumb and tipped it over her head. "Mom goes insane, attacks dad, I run, she follows me, and now we're in your lab."

"Why the heck did you run into my house?" Jimmy shouted.

Cindy appeared hurt for a second, but quickly scowled at Jimmy. "Pardon me for not thinking clearly at the time! Now just get us the heck out of here!"

Jimmy shook his head. "We're safe in here. We'll just call the cops and they'll arrest her. We'll wait in here until they arrive."

Cindy clenched her teeth and glanced behind her. "The cops won't help!"

Jimmy sighed. "Why do people always say that? Of course they help! That's their job!"

Cindy clenched her fist and bit her lip. "Jimmy, do you trust me?" she seriously asked. Jimmy didn't say anything. "Do you trust me!"

Jimmy thought another second. "Yeah, I do."

"Then believe me when I tell you that we have got to get out of here."

Jimmy stared at Cindy.

"Now!" she screamed.


	3. Sugar, We're Going Down

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of the great and descriptive reviews, you guys. It means a lot to me.**

**And I know that the last chapter might have been a little rushed, but getting the story in motion is always tough. It should be better from now on.**

Jimmy nodded and ran across his lab. He shoved a few items into his pockets and then motioned for Cindy to come help him. They rolled his rocket to a circle in the center of his lab. "How far away do you need to get?" Jimmy asked while preparing the lift-off procedure.

"As far as you can take us," Cindy seriously replied while helping him input several controls.

Jimmy scowled as she inputted the buttons on _his_ control panel. "Vortex, if you want to cry or something, go ahead. I don't care," Jimmy was cut off by Cindy grabbing his wrist and twisting it. "Ow!" he shrieked.

Cindy stared him in the eyes. "Don't you _ever_ treat me like some stupid blonde princess who can't take care of herself!" She angrily threw his hand away and hopped into the rocket.

Jimmy rubbed his wrist before taking the pilot's seat. "You know, Vortex, I'm the one doing you a favor here. You could at least say thank-," Jimmy angrily told her.

"Just shut up and drive this thing!" she shouted.

Jimmy turned away from her and started flipping switches. "Turbines to speed..."

Cindy exhaled angrily and reached over him. She quickly pressed several buttons. "Et cetera and liftoff!"

Jimmy shoved her out of the way and grabbed the steering wheel as they lifted out of his laboratory. He straightened the rocket's path as they cleared the treetops. Suddenly the rocket shook.

"What the heck?" Jimmy said while looking over the side of the rocket. Mrs. Vortex stood below, brandishing a Glock 22. The rocket's monitor beeped before shutting off. "Darn it! She shot the mainframe!" The Strato XL began descending towards the ground.

"Brace yourself!" Jimmy shouted while covering his head with his arms. He closed his eyes as the rocket collided with the ground below.

Cindy opened her eyes once the shaking stopped. She took a quick look around and saw that she was in a yard down the street. She unclipped her seat belt and hopped over the side of the rocket. She ran to the other side and helped Jimmy get out. Goddard shook his body and hopped out as well.

The two kids quickly looked behind them. "I don't see her," Jimmy said.

Suddenly they both heard a rumbling sound in the distance, getting louder. They turned around to see Mrs. Vortex sitting in her car, driving straight at them.

"Look out!" Cindy shouted while grabbing Jimmy's arm and pulling him to the side. They slammed to the ground as the car flew past them.

Jimmy turned in horror as a crashing sound reached his ears. His eyes watered as he saw some mangled metal amidst the glowing or that served as Goddard's brain. "Goddard," he whispered.

"No time!" Cindy shouted while pulling Jimmy to his feet and running across the yard.

Jimmy sadly nodded and followed her. "What the heck is wrong with your mother?" They both dove to the side as Mrs. Vortex flew past them again, going at least sixty miles an hour.

Cindy continued running down the sidewalk, but slipped. "Dang it!" she shouted while feeling around the pavement. She crawled towards a nearby lawn after a rolling object.

Jimmy caught up to her and grabbed her arm, attempting to pull her to her feet. "No time to get your contact lenses!" He was surprised to feel resistance from her. Her arm was stiff, and he fell to the ground while trying to pull her up.

Cindy scrambled to her feet and slid onto the lawn. She desperately felt around in the grass. "Got it!" she happily shouted while lifting up a small object and slipping it into her pocket.

Jimmy jumped and shoved her down onto the ground as the car barreled past them again. He could hear Mrs. Vortex's scream of frustration.

Jimmy extended his hand, and this time Cindy accepted it. They squeezed each other's hand while Jimmy pulled her up. He looked behind him to see Mrs. Vortex getting out of her car and reloading her gun.

They both started running again. "Up here!" Cindy shouted while climbing a tree. Jimmy followed her up.

As Jimmy neared the top of the tree, he lost his footing and slid down. Cindy reached out and grabbed his arm. She froze as her mother walked along the lawn below, holding her gun out in front of her. Jimmy, not able to see her, started to ask what was wrong, but Cindy shook her head and mouthed to be quiet.

After several moments of walking, Mrs. Vortex turned back towards her car. "No way in hell it's this easy, girlie. This is only the first round!" she shouted as loud as she dared, not wanting to wake up the neighbors.


	4. She's a Rebel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

After they saw Mrs. Vortex's car drive away, Cindy pulled Jimmy up into the tree with her. Jimmy wiped the dirt off of his face and stared at her. She was frowning over the tears in her shirt.

Cindy finally looked up and noticed her staring at him. "What?" she asked, but not coldly.

Jimmy seemed angry. "Mind telling me what was so important that you stopped during a car chase to pick up?"

Cindy shook her head. She turned around to look at the stars, but Jimmy grabbed her arm and spun her back around. "My dog, my best friend, got killed back there. You gave me two seconds to grieve. You drop something on the ground, and you spend half a minute trying to get it. What was so damn important that it nearly got us killed?"

Cindy met his glare. "None of your business." Jimmy eventually broke the eye contact and let go of her arm.

They turned around and stared in opposite directions, leaning against each other's backs. "So," Jimmy began, "you seem to be so eager to be the leader in this little adventure. So what's next in your plan?"

Without shifting her gaze, Cindy answered, "Don't know." Jimmy laughed. Cindy squinted her eyes in anger. "Why, you got any ideas?" Jimmy stopped laughing.

Several hours went by, both thinking about what they had gotten themselves into. Finally, Jimmy spoke as the sun began to rise. "Why did you say the cops can't help you?"

Cindy shook her head, still not looking at him. "It's complicated. Not enough time to explain now." She turned around and faced Jimmy. "It's getting light out. We can't stay in this tree forever."

Jimmy nodded. "Although I don't think it's much safer down there."

Cindy smiled a little. "Agreed. We've got to get away from Retroville, at least into the next town."

Jimmy sighed. "How are we going to do that? We have no transportation, and it's not like we can go back home to grab my hover car."

Cindy climbed a few branches down and hopped off of the tree. Jimmy carefully tried to imitate her, but ended up falling onto the grass. He ignored Cindy's suppressed laughter and pulled himself up.

Cindy took a quick look around before running across the street and heading down the sidewalk. Once again, Jimmy followed her.

"We take the bus," she told him. They sat down on a bench near the bus stop.

A moment or two later a gentleman in his early sixties smiled at them and took a seat on the bench. He took out a small radio and looked at the kids. "Do you mind?" he asked. Cindy and Jimmy shook their heads. The man flipped it on and set it down on his lap.

Jimmy nudged Cindy and nodded towards the radio. They both listened.

"Mr. Nicholas Vortex is believed to have kidnapped his daughter Cynthia Vortex early this morning. A neighbor, James Neutron, is believed to have tried to stop the kidnapping. Unfortunately, it appears that he has been abducted as well. More on this story after these commercials."

Jimmy and Cindy glanced nervously at each other as the bus pulled up. They threw some change into the container as they stepped onboard and took a seat.


	5. Walking Contradiction

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews. And if you haven't noticed, I changed my user lookup. You might want to give it a look.**

**And _snowboarder9_, I agree it's unlikely a mother would act like that, but what about that mom that drowned her five kids? Sometimes people just lose it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

About twenty minutes later, Jimmy and Cindy carefully stepped off the bus. They took a look at their new surroundings. 

"I think this is Austin," Jimmy remarked as he headed down the sidewalk.

Cindy nodded. They walked in silence, not sure where they were headed. _Guess I have to do it._ "Hey Neutron?" she weakly asked.

Jimmy turned to her. "Yeah?"

Cindy cleared her throat as they continued walking. "Thanks. For you know, back there. And here."

Jimmy just nodded and kept on walking. Finally, he asked the question that had been plaguing his mind for hours. "So, you were planning to move away with your dad?"

Cindy stopped walking and stared at him. "Yeah."

Jimmy sat down on the curb and ran his hands through his hair. "Why didn't you want to stay here?"

Cindy took a seat next to him. "I would have been living with the nutcase who's trying to kill us."

Jimmy nodded. "So if we make it through this, get your mom in jail or whatever, you'll be leaving Retroville?"

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, guess so."

Jimmy scratched the back of his neck and solemnly nodded his head. "Well, ok then."

He hopped up and started walking down the sidewalk, going twice as fast as before. He could hear Cindy struggling to keep up with him.

"Why? Do you care if I move?"

Jimmy let out a light laugh. "Just curious, Vortex."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Guess I'm just upset that I won't have anyone to make my life miserable anymore," Jimmy coldly said while brushing past some businessmen.

"Admit it, Neutron. You can't stand the thought of me leaving," Cindy told him as she caught up with him again.

Jimmy looked to his right and saw a mall down the street. "Let's head over there. We can get some breakfast," he said while running off.

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Jimmy and Cindy entered the mall. Jimmy headed towards the food court, but Cindy grabbed his arm. "People think we've been kidnapped. Our faces will be all over the news. We have to disguise ourselves."

Jimmy sadly took a look at his clothes and nodded. Cindy grabbed his hand and led him to a department store.

Cindy was fingering through the pairs of jeans on a rack. "Do these look good?" she asked while holding a pair up.

_Leave it to Vortex to shop while escaping a murderous parent. _Jimmy sighed. "Yes, Cindy. And the one before those looked good too. And the one before that. And the one before that. We've been here an hour, can you just pick out a stupid pair of pants?"

Cindy glared at him before turning her head and throwing a couple of pairs of jeans over her arm. "Let's get some stuff for you."

Jimmy nodded and headed across the aisle to boys section. He quickly grabbed two shirts and a couple of pairs of pants off of a rack. He turned to Cindy triumphantly. "Done."

Cindy stared at him for a moment, but nodded. "Follow me." She started walking to the other end of the mall.

Several moments later, Cindy was fingering through a spinning display of sunglasses. She picked one up and checked herself out in the mirror. She shrugged and put them in her shopping basket. She then walked over to the makeup area. She picked up two bottles. "Should I be a redhead or brunette?"

"You're changing your hair?" Jimmy asked, surprised.

"It's my most noticeable feature. And you're going to have to do something about yours, you know. You're the only kid in the U.S. who's hair looks like an ice cream cone."

Jimmy gently fingered a few strands of his hair. "Brunette." Cindy smiled.

After they had paid for their merchandise, they exited the store and looked around. "We better change now. In the bathrooms, I suppose," Jimmy said while heading off.

Cindy followed him, but grabbed his arm as he went to push open the men's room door. "The girl's rooms are better. Trust me." He shrugged and followed her inside after she yelled that it was all clear.

Jimmy stared in awe at the sparkling sinks, the carpeted stall doors, the bench with pillows and a magazine stand. "Why the heck are your bathrooms so nice?"

Cindy went over to a stall and locked the door. "We couldn't vote for a hundred and fifty years. We deserve a nice sink," she said while changing into her new clothes.

Jimmy went into the next stall over and locked the door. "It's an automatic flusher!" he shouted in disbelief while shaking his head. He then took out his new shirt and jeans and put them on.

They both stepped out of their stalls at the same time and looked at each other. "Huh," they both said. They walked over to the sinks. Cindy pulled out a bottle of hair dye, and Jimmy pulled out a pair of scissors.

They bother grimaced as they lifted their tools. "We really have to do this?" Jimmy sadly asked.

"Yep," Cindy replied, not sounding too happy.

Jimmy sadly began chopping off locks of his hair. "So why won't the cops help us?"

Cindy poured some of the liquid onto her hair and started rubbing it in. "My mom's got a lot of money and a lot of connections."

Ten minutes later, they both looked up and surveyed their new looks in the mirrors. They then stared at each other.

Jimmy laughed a little as he stared at Cindy. She shot him an icy glare. "I'm sorry," he said between chuckles. "It's just I never expected to see you with black hair. It looks good though. Kind of cute." Jimmy quickly turned his head away after saying that.

Cindy smiled as she examined Jimmy's new look. "You don't look too bad, either. But your left side is a little uneven. I'll fix it," she said while walking over to him and taking the scissors out of his hand. "I've still got some of that dye if you want to..."

"Forget it," Jimmy angrily told her.

"Alright, I'm just throwing it out there," Cindy said while closing her right eye and examining Jimmy's head. "You know, your head doesn't look so big once you chop all the hair off." She snipped a few more strands. "Perfect."

Jimmy nodded as he surveyed himself in the mirror. "Well, here we go," he said while pushing open the bathroom door. Cindy thanked him and walked out. He stared at her for a moment before letting go of the door and running after her.


	6. Extraordinary Girl

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy and Jimmy kept shooting each other glances and laughing as they headed towards the food court. "You know, _Vortex_, I guess I can't call you a dumb blonde anymore," Jimmy said while stretching out his left hand.

Cindy smiled. "And I guess your new look doesn't justify me calling you Captain Cranium. Your head looks perfectly proportionate to the rest of your body," Cindy said while grabbing his hand.

Jimmy suddenly stopped as he stared into the window of a store. "What?" asked Cindy.

_That just might be crazy enough to work._ He turned around and smiled at Cindy. "Would I look good with my ear pierced?"

Cindy responded by walking away. "It's the new millennium! Everyone's doing it!" Jimmy shouted while looking again at the window. He sighed and ran after her.

They both smiled as they sniffed the air. Scents of freshly baked bagels, toasted Belgium waffles, and donuts just pulled from the oven overwhelmed them. Jimmy took a step toward the counter of goods, but Cindy grabbed his arm.

"Um, how much money do you have?"

Jimmy's smile immediately faded as he felt around in his pockets. "Twenty cents and my pen laser. I spent it all on my clothes."

Cindy sadly nodded. "Yeah, me too." They took a seat on a nearby bench and stared at the food counter in front of them. "Who knows how long we'll be running by ourselves, and we're already out of money."

Jimmy sighed. "And I'm really hungry."

Cindy bit her lip and stood up. "Grab some food while I distract him," she whispered.

"You want me to steal? Bagels?" a shocked Jimmy asked.

Cindy shook her head. "It's food. We need it to survive. Besides, it's five bucks worth." Jimmy considered this and followed her as she went over to the counter.

Cindy waited for the man to face her before clearing her throat and circling her finger on the counter. "Um, hello there Mr.," Cindy read his nametag, "Studly."

Jimmy laughed. "You've got to be kidding me," he whispered. Cindy stomped on his foot and turned her attention back to the man in front of her.

"It's Stanley," the man grumbled. "What will you have?"

Cindy flashed her wide smile and made her eyes as big as possible. "What do you suggest, um, it was Manly, wasn't it?"

Jimmy tried to suppress his laughter, but couldn't do it. He held up his hand to acknowledge his apologies before Cindy could hit him again. He slowly walked around to the other end of the counter.

The man laughed as Cindy giggled a little. "Yeah, let's go by that." His expression soften as Cindy twirled her hair. "I suggest the bagels."

Jimmy snuck under the bar that stopped customers from entering the kitchen. He tiptoed over to the glass doors that separated him from the food.

Cindy nodded and smiled wider as she bit her lip. "Um, what kinds of bagels do you have?"

Jimmy turned his attention away from the locked door to Cindy. His eyes widened as she bent over the counter. Cindy's expression hardened as she saw him staring at her. Jimmy nodded and took out his pen laser. _Uh, food. Yeah, that's what to focus on right now._

And raisin," the man finished. 

Cindy nodded and started nervously tapping her fingers against the counter as Jimmy burnt the lock to the door open. "Mmmm, those all sound so good," Cindy said, trying to buy Jimmy some time.

"If you look at these right here," he whispered before turning around.

Cindy started grunting and hitting the counter. Jimmy turned around as the man finished his sentence. He looked around and jumped several feet to his left. He stood against the cardboard cutout of a boy holding a donut. He put on a huge smile and posed the same way the cardboard kid did.

The man unlocked the glass door and motioned at the rows of baked goods. "We also have a wide selection of donuts. Sweets for the sweet," he said while laughing.

Cindy laughed as well._ Oh yeah, that's original._ "Um, before I purchase anything, I, uh, am dyslexic. Could you yell me if this is a one dollar bill or a ten?" Cindy asked while pulling out her only dollar.

Jimmy mouthed _dyslexic?_, and Cindy just shrugged. The man turned around and walked back over to Cindy. Jimmy quickly reached inside the open door and grabbed several donuts. He then ran back over to the bar and crawled under it.

"That is a one dollar bill, ma'am. Just enough for a donut," the man said.

Cindy nodded. "I'll take chocolate." As the man turned his back, she ran away after Jimmy, who was already at the other end of the food court.

The man turned back around and saw that she was gone. "Damn it. Oh well," he said while popping the pastry into his mouth.

"Dyslexic?" Jimmy said while laughing as they took a seat, out of view of the donut man.

Cindy laughed as well. "Shut up. You're the one who plastered yourself against a cardboard cutout."

They both laughed as they dug into their breakfast.


	7. Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

****

Author's Note: _Snowboarder9_, I had envisioned her kicking down his door. Or it's possible it wasn't locked. It is a small town, after all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

An hour later, Cindy was holding Jimmy's hand as they walked down the mall. Jimmy was holding a pack of ice to his right eye and angrily mumbling.

"You know," Cindy said thoughtfully, "I'm not so much upset that you got into a fight with a five year-old..."

"She started it! I told her I was sorry I stepped on her foot!" Jimmy shouted.

Cindy smiled as she continued. "As I am amused by the fact she won the fight."

"She bit, Cindy. She bit me. She was playing dirty," Jimmy defensively said while taking the ice pack off of his eye. He accidentally collided with a man walking by.

"Sorry, mister," Jimmy said while bending down and picking up the guy's dropped cell phone.

"It's alright. Just watch where you're going from now," the man suddenly stopped as he stared at the two kids.

"Uh, we better get going, Dave," Cindy said while pulling Jimmy up and quickly walking off.

"If we're going to pick cover names, you could at least let me pick my own," Jimmy mumbled.

"Shut up and keep walking," Cindy nervously said while looking over her shoulder. The man was walking after them and dialing a number on his cell phone. "Shoot. Run!" she whispered to him.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy nervously asked as she struggled to keep up with him.

Cindy gulped as she heard the pitter-patter of footsteps behind her. "Well, that guy back there was the one mommy dearest was cheating on my dad with."

Jimmy looked behind him to see the man right on their heels, yelling into his phone. "That's not good."

Cindy nodded as she kept running. "And you know how I said my mom has connections?" Jimmy nodded. "Well, that guy's a cop. Now you know why they can't help us."

Jimmy laughed. "Of course he's a cop. Could this get any worse?" he shouted as they burst outside. They sighed as they heard sirens in the distance. "Yeah, guess it can."

"This way!" Cindy shouted while quickly looking around and spotting a parking garage. She grabbed Jimmy's hand and ran off.

The man continued to run after the kids. He shoved two teenage girls out of the way and whipped out his badge. "Police coming through! Make way!" he shouted while pushing his way through the crowd.

Cindy and Jimmy gulped as they took a quick glance behind them. Their foe was stuck in a crowd behind them, but he was still after them. "In here!" Cindy shouted as they entered the garage. She ran up to the elevator and pushed a button.

Cindy and Jimmy tapped their feet against the ground as they waited for the elevator to arrive, watching their enemy getting closer and closer.

"So, beautiful day, huh?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy nodded. "Positively delightful. I hear it's going to be seventy."

Jimmy appeared surprised. "Really? Gosh, it's been so long since we've had a nice, hot, summer day." The elevator bell rang as the door opened. Cindy and Jimmy rushed inside and sighed in relief as the doors closed before the man could reach the elevator.

The two kids emerged on the third parking level and looked around. Cindy pointed at a red sports car. "That one!" she shouted while running towards it. Jimmy ran after her.

"What do you mean, _that one!_? What are you doing?" he asked as she broke the window, reached inside, and unlocked the doors.

She hopped inside, as did a shocked Jimmy. "Hot wire it!" Cindy desperately shouted.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" Jimmy asked while laughing.

"You're the genius! Do your magic!"

"Cindy, we are not stealing a car!"

"It's that or get shot! Your choice!" Cindy told him.

Jimmy hesitated a moment before pulling out his pen laser and getting to work. Two minutes later he sat back up and put his laser away. "There. So who's going to drive?"

"Me," Cindy said while strapping herself in and grabbing the steering wheel.

Jimmy laughed. "You can barely see over the dashboard!"

"Hey, I'm taller! And that attitude is not helping us get out of here!"

"You're eleven! What the hell do you know about driving a car?"

Cindy pointed at the pedals underneath her feet. "Gas, brake. Here we go!" she shouted while flooring the gas pedal and slamming forward.

"Put it in," Jimmy started to tell her.

"Reverse, I know!" Cindy angrily switched gears and slowly backed out. "Ok, _now_ we go!" she said while speeding across the garage.


	8. Always

****

Author's Note: Thanks to all of my reviewers, especially _acosta pérez josé ramiro _and _superdork398_. These guys give really descriptive reviews.

I've got twenty-one reviews so far, and that's a lot. But let's see if we can stretch that out to forty. Can we do it? Only if you all pitch in and type a few words! (Corny, yes. But I do like reviews.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Jimmy desperately scrambled for the seat belt as the car started swerving around. He let out a sigh of relief as he heard the _click_ of the device working. He then turned towards Cindy. "Cindy! You can't be serious about stealing this car!"

Cindy clenched her teeth as she swerved out of the way of a lady carrying several shopping bags. _Two more floors and we're out of the garage._ "It's out best chance of getting out of here. We might be breaking the law, but..."

"Who cares about the stupid law? I just don't want to die! You've already slammed into a wall and nearly hit two," Jimmy looked out his window as they took another sharp turn, "three people!"

"You want to drive?" Cindy angrily shouted while sliding down a ramp onto the second floor. Jimmy remained silent. "Then shut up and look out for the cops!"

Jimmy nervously rapped his fingers against the armrest before turning around and looking out the back window.

Cindy slowed down as she maneuvered between the crowded parking lot. People stared in awe as the eleven-year olds flew by them.

"Yes! We're on the highway! We made it! We made it!" Cindy's face turned from joy to horror. "We made it and we're in the wrong lane. WE'RE IN THE WRONG LANE!" she screamed.

Jimmy and Cindy both grabbed onto the steering wheel and turned it sharply to the right. They then straightened the car out after lightly tapping a minivan.

Cindy breathed a sigh of relief as they started to ride at a comfortable speed down a straight road. "You know, this is kind of nice. We both should take a road trip when we get back to Retroville," Cindy said while flashing a smile at Jimmy.

Jimmy took a quick glance behind him and saw nothing out of the ordinary happening on the road. "We might have lost them, but the cops will find us soon."

"Check through the glove compartment and see what you can find," Cindy suggested.

Jimmy pulled the tiny door open and ruffled through the contents inside. "A lighter, some pens, a few napkins, a pack of cigarettes," he said while throwing them all in his backpack. "And his wallet."

Jimmy shut the glove compartment's door as he leaned back in his seat and leafed through the wallet. "Some credit cards and twenty bucks," he told Cindy while putting the money in his pocket. "Credit cards won't do us any good, we don't want to leave a trail." He fingered them for a moment before putting them in his pocket anyways.

Jimmy looked underneath his seat after bending down to pick up a fallen pencil. "This could come in handy," he said while pulling out a cell phone.

Cindy quickly looked over and smiled a little. "Call Libby. I want to see what's going on back on the home front."

"Ten-four good buddy," Jimmy said while flipping open the phone. "Hey, this things got solitaire!" he happily exclaimed.

"Will you just dial the damn thing!" Cindy yelled.

Jimmy started to push a button, but the noise of sirens behind them distracted him. "It's the fuzz!"

"What?" Cindy exasperatedly asked.

"Cherry-tops! Cheese it!" Jimmy nervously shouted.

"What the heck are you trying to say?"

Jimmy angrily sighed. "It's the cops, ok? The cops."

Cindy took a quick glance behind her to verify Jimmy's information. "Ready?" she asked while looking at Jimmy.

"Always," Jimmy nodded.

Cindy nodded as well and turned her attention back to the road. "Right. Then let's do it!" she said while flooring the gas pedal.


	9. Hang On

Author's Note: I have a few quick things to address here.

1) There is no way that I am deleting this story, and I will most likely never do it in the future. I have this story planned up to about chapter fifteen. This story should easily surpass twenty chapters.

2) Thanks _EL CHUPACABRA _and _samuraistar _for noticing. I am trying to make all the names of al the chapters be song titles. Not necessarily _Green _Day, though. (But I am a big fan.) The title of the song may go with what the chapter deals with, but it's usually what the song is about that's important. Listening to those songs while reading the chapters might heighten the experience.

3) Thanks to all my other reviewers. Twenty-six reviews at this point. Thanks guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Cindy quickly maneuvered around several cars. "Jimmy, how close..."

"About five cars down," Jimmy said while looking behind him. "How fast can this thing go?"

Cindy took a quick look at the dashboard. "Speedometer goes up to ninety."

Jimmy nodded as two cop cars moved another car closer. "Closing in fast, Cind. Better floor it," he advised.

"The highway's packed, Neutron! Not much room to maneuver. And it's not helping that my hair clears the dashboard by three inches!"

Jimmy unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed onto his seat as the car shook. "Steady it! I need to get something!"

As Cindy tried her hardest to steady the car, Jimmy crawled between the two front seats into the back. He started rooting around under the seats.

"What are you doing?" Cindy asked while taking a right turn onto an exit ramp.

Jimmy didn't answer as he pulled out two baseballs. _Guy must have kids._ He rolled down his window and clutched one in his right hand. "Life or death, right Cindy?"

"Do what you gotta do, Big Brain!" she shouted.

Jimmy nodded and gulped. _Please don't let anyone get hurt._ Jimmy stuck half his body out the window and threw the ball as hard as he could at the cop's windshield. As the car swerved, Jimmy threw the other. It cracked the windshield and sent the car pulling over on the side of the road.

"Nice shot!" Cindy said as Jimmy crawled back into the front seat. "We're on a normal road now," she said a few seconds later.

Jimmy and Cindy both jumped in their seats as a loud _bang _ran out. "They wouldn't shoot at kids, would they?" Jimmy nervously asked. His question was answered a second later as a bullet pierced through the back window and hit the radio. "Aw come on!" he angrily shouted.

Several onlookers looked as a red sports car flew by them, followed by three cop cars with sirens blaring.

"Give me the wheel," Jimmy asked while nervously unbuckling his seat belt once again.

"You're kidding, right?" Cindy asked as she looked up and saw a helicopter flying above them. "Damn news people."

"Vortex, will you just trust me!" Jimmy shouted.

Cindy bit her bottom lip so hard a drop of blood rolled down her cheek. "You better have a plan," she grumbled as they carefully switched seats. While barreling down a road. At seventy miles an hour.

"Are the cops directly behind us, or on our sides?" Jimmy asked while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Sides," Cindy told him.

"They're trying to box us. Hang on," he said while taking a deep breath. He slammed his foot on the brakes and changed gears into reverse. _God I hope this car has good acceleration._ As the cops flew past them, Jimmy and Cindy slammed forward in their seats.

"Nice," Cindy angrily said while putting a hand to her bloody nose.

Jimmy judged the width of the road and floored the gas. He spun the car around, briefly coming onto the sidewalk. By the time the cops turned around, Jimmy was halfway down the road.

"Slow down!" Cindy yelled while their speed pushed her back to the seat. She glanced at the speedometer. The arrow was shaking at ninety.

Jimmy spun the car around a corner, nearly tipping over. "Where's the nearest set of woods?" Cindy didn't respond. "Cindy! Nearest set of woods!"

Cindy took her hand off of her aching head and thought for a second. "Uh, I think two miles down this road. I think," she stressed.

Jimmy nodded and checked out the rearview mirror. Nearly a quarter of a mile away, the cops were just turning the corner. "Find something in this car that's heavy."

"Like what?"

"Anything!" Jimmy shouted while barely making another turn.

Cindy grudgingly fished around the car. "There's nothing in here!"

Jimmy dared a quick look behind him. "Rip the armrest off!"

Cindy stared at him strangely for a moment before slamming her fists down on the armrest between her and Jimmy. After several attempts, it gave way.

"Take the wheel," Jimmy said. Cindy leaned over and grabbed a hold of the steering wheel.

Jimmy undid his seat belt and grabbed the armrest. Taking his foot off of the gas, he put the armrest on it. He smiled when the car kept going at its top speed.

The car edged along a little faster. Jimmy stayed on the floor. "Listen carefully, Cindy. How far away are the cops?"

"The end of the street. Maybe a third of a mile away."

Jimmy nodded, although she couldn't see him. "Round the next corner. Are we near those woods?"

"I think so...yeah, there's a sign. Round the corner and a quarter of a mile. Looks like a straight road," she told him.

"Once you round that corner, let go of the wheel and unlock the doors. Grab my hand and push the door open. When I say so, you jump out and pull me, ok?"

"You sure?" Cindy nervously asked after a moment.

"Yeah," Jimmy said. He looked up and waited for Cindy to take her hands off the wheel. Once she did, he removed the armrest. The car began to steadily slow down.

_Come on you stupid little piece of crap, slow down!_ He heard Cindy kick open the door and grabbed her hand. Once they were going about twenty miles an hour, Jimmy slammed the armrest back onto the gas pedal.

"Roll when you hit the ground.! Now!" Jimmy shouted. Cindy took a deep breath and jumped out of the car as it started to pick up speed. Jimmy was pulled out of the car and somewhat closed the door behind him.

They both felt like a giant sheet of glass had slammed over them as they hit the ground. Letting go of Jimmy's hand, she covered her head as best she could and rolled along the grass. Jimmy did the same.

Ignoring the burning in his legs, Jimmy quickly pushed himself up off of the ground and grabbed Cindy's hand. Half dragging and half leading her, he helped her walk down a hill. They slipped and rolled down it. Jimmy motioned for her to stay still as the cop cars whizzed by, chasing the now empty car.

After the flashing lights and whistling sirens faded, Jimmy grabbed Cindy's hand and helped her up. "We have to get to the woods to hide," he told her. She nodded. They started limping as fast as they could towards the trees a quarter mile away.


	10. Good Riddance

Disclaimer: I still do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

After quite a hike, the two preteens breathed a sigh of relief as they entered the brink of the woods. "Best we hide out here for a while. The cops will find it pretty odd that there weren't bodies in the car," Jimmy said while slamming his walking stick ahead of him and shuffling along.

Cindy weakly nodded as she tightened her grip around his neck. Ten minutes later, Jimmy gently sat her down on a rock. He slung his backpack off his shoulder and placed it on the ground beside him. He pulled out his pen laser and held it in front of her face.

"What are you, what are you doing?" Cindy weakly asked.

"Just follow the pen, Cind. With your eyes," he told her while swinging it back and forth, and then away and to her face. He frowned a little as her pupils delayed a few seconds.

Jimmy put the laser back in his backpack and zipped it up. He gently parted the hair in front of her face and slowly felt her skull. "Pretty nice bruise," he mentioned while eyeing a large purplish bump.

"I'm fine, Jim," Cindy said while gently shoving him away.

Jimmy cocked an eyebrow at his new nickname. "You've got a grade one concussion, Cindy."

Cindy shook her head, but clutched her skull in pain. Jimmy sighed while shaking his head. He took off his new jacket and laid it on the ground. "Get some sleep." He grabbed her hand and laid her down on the jacket. She slowly closed her eyes and started to snore lightly.

Jimmy took the cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and pressed some buttons. He smiled a little. "Broken," he said while tossing it into his backpack. Taking a quick glance at Cindy to be sure she was okay, he went off a little into the forest to find some firewood.

Cindy awoke several hours later to see Jimmy sitting in front of a fire, absent-mindedly peeling the bark off of a stick. He smiled a little as he saw her watching him.

"Good sleep?" he asked.

Cindy delicately nodded as he took a seat beside her. He rested his hands on his raised knees and stared straight ahead. Cindy look at him, intrigued now the fire illuminated half of his face.

"Are we crazy, Vortex?" he finally asked.

Cindy pushed herself off of his jacket and handed it to him. He tossed it over on top of his backpack. She took a seat next to him. "About what?"

Jimmy smiled a little. "This. This whole, adventure. We're running from your mom. We're running from the cops. We've got twenty bucks, a broken cell phone, a lighter, and a laser. We're going to have to steal to survive, and sooner or later we'll get caught. And then they'll find out who we are, contact our parents, and, well..." Jimmy's voice trailed off.

Cindy didn't quite know what to say. "We'll figure out something. We always do."

Jimmy laughed. "Yeah, well. This time it's a little different. We actually stole a car, Cindy. Two eleven year-olds stole a car. That's something you don't see every day."

"It had to be done, Jimmy. His car insurance will cover it."

"I don't care about the damn insurance, Cind! I'm not worried about that guy. Worst comes to worst, he'll ride the bus to work on Monday. What I'm saying is we're not in control. We've always had a plan. We've always had my inventions. We've got nothing and your mom's got everything."

"Since when is it _we_?" Cindy seriously asked.

Jimmy remained silent for a moment. "I helped you when I didn't have to, Cindy. And I'm not going to hold it over your head. I just want to know one thing. Just this once, tell me the truth." Jimmy turned to face her. "What was it that was in your pocket? The thing you dropped yesterday."

Cindy's expression fell. "I told you it's none of your business."

"Yeah, well that might have been true yesterday. But we're in this together now, like it or not. I think I have a right to know!" Jimmy said, his voice rising.

Cindy stood up, as did Jimmy. They stared each other in the eyes. For the first time, Cindy was the one that had to look up to see him. Jimmy didn't back down. "Tell me."

Cindy never lost her gaze. "No."

Jimmy reached for her pocket, but she grabbed his wrist and twisted it.

"Bitch!" Jimmy shouted as she let go of his wrist. He clutched it in pain as he stumbled backwards.

Jimmy's face fell a little as he got a look of Cindy's expression. _Oh great, now she's pissed. Well screw her. Time I start standing up for myself._ He looked at her hurt expression again and sighed. "I didn't mean to say that," he told her while taking a step forward.

Cindy, in one fluid motion, picked up a Jimmy's walking stick, spun around, and slammed him into a tree with it. She pushed the stick into his neck, pinning him there.

"Cute," Jimmy grumbled while struggling to take a breath.

Cindy scowled at him. "Don't you think for one second that we're equal. I never asked for you to come here, take my place as the best. And don't you dare think that I'm complimenting you, I'm smart enough to know you're brighter than me. But there is so much I can do that you can't, Neutron.

You helped me when you didn't have to? Fine, you're off the hook. Go back home and crawl to your mommy. I can take care of myself," she seethed.

Cindy shoved the stick a little deeper into his neck before releasing him. As Jimmy rubbed his bruised neck, Cindy turned around and started to walk off.

"You think you can do this without me?" Jimmy shouted. Cindy didn't answer. "Fine then! Good luck, _Vortex!_"

"You too, _Spewtron_!" she shouted without turning around.

Jimmy stared after her as she nearly left his sight. "Cindy!" he sadly shouted.

Cindy stopped and turned around. It was hard to tell from where he was standing, but he thought she might have been crying. "What?"

"It doesn't have to be this way."

Cindy stared at him again. "Yeah, it does," she said before turning back around and heading off.


	11. I Miss You

**Disclaimer: Do you really think I own it?**

**Author's Note: This chapter is about Jimmy and Cindy interacting, so it's chopped up into brief segments.**

Jimmy opened his eyes the next morning as a horrible smell overcame him. He threw off the shirt he had used for a blanket and spun around. A water-soaked Cindy stood over him, a fish laying on his backpack in front of him. "Breakfast," she tiredly said.

Jimmy took the fish off of the rack above his campfire. He slit it in half and handed some to Cindy on a large leaf. They ate in silence. "Thanks," he quietly said.

"No biggie," she told him.

"We can't keep doing this, Cindy."

"Doing what?"

"What we did last night. I mean, who knows how long we'll be running. We can't keep fighting like that. As much as we may hate to admit it, we've got to stay together if we want to survive."

Cindy thought about that for a moment. "You're right. For once," she said with a hint of a smile.

Jimmy gently shoved her. "Vortex, well, if I _had_ to be doing this whole stinking adventure, and I _had_ to go with a girl, and she _had _to be a blonde, well, I guess you're about my favorite choice."

Cindy smiled. "And if I _had_ to be doing this with an egotistical jerk with a head that I've seen at least six squirrels mistake for an acorn, I guess you're not the worst choice."

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"Ready?" Jimmy asked while slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He turned around to see Cindy bending over while tying her shoe. She turned around and grabbed his hand. He pulled her up.

"Guess so," she said while smiling at him. "Where we headed?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Nearest city is three miles down the interstate. If we hurry, we can make it there by noon. From there we play it by year."

Cindy nodded as she handed Jimmy his walking stick back. He smiled as he fingered the new atom design on its side. He lifted his eyes up to see Cindy a few feet ahead of him. "Thanks."

"It was your laser," she said with a smile. She tossed the pen laser at him.

Jimmy caught it with a surprised look on his face. He investigated each of his pockets, and realized that she had taken it without him noticing. _She's getting a little too good with this life of crime thing_.

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"I spy with my little eye a blonde haired beauty," Jimmy said with a smile as they walked down the woods and grass at the side of the interstate.

"Ha ha, very funny," Cindy said while pretending to laugh.

"I was talking about the squirrel in front of us," Jimmy said while pointing ahead of them.

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"I spy with my little eye a giant-headed brown-haired being," Cindy said as stopped to take a break.

Jimmy was about to come back with an insult with his own, but he looked ahead to see a tree whose bark looked like a face. "Oh, that tree in front of us."

Cindy smiled and stood back up. "Nope," she said while continuing on their journey.

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Jimmy held Cindy's hand as they hopped across the rocks in a small stream interrupting their progress. They emerged on the other side fully side. Jimmy tighten his grip on her hand as they continued walking.

"You can drop my hand now, you know," Cindy reminded him.

"I know," Jimmy said while squeezing her palm.


	12. Parents

**Author's Note: Tell me in a review if you can identify the references I've put in this chapter. I think they're pretty obvious if you love music. **

Also, this chapter isn't a song title. If you find the references, you'll know why.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Cindy and Jimmy stared in awe at the city in front of them. Cars flew by going twice the speed limit, skyscrapers reached impossible heights, shady looking kids eyed them funny while walking by. Cindy put on her sunglasses as they headed down the boulevard.

"Any idea what this place is?" she asked.

Jimmy looked at a sign on his right. "Welcome to Jingletown," she told her.

"Jingletown? Sounds familiar," Cindy said while thinking.

"Have we been here before?" Jimmy asked.

They both shrugged as they walked down the street. Jimmy looked to his left to see a convenience store. "Should we get anything? There's a sale on soda pop and Ritalin."

"No, we're good," Cindy said as they moved on.

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Cindy and Jimmy sat down on a park bench after walking about a mile. "Cind, I'm sorry your parents are getting divorced. The whole murderous mom thing can't make it any easier."

Cindy nodded sadly. "Well, I guess you can tell I haven't had the best home life."

Jimmy's eyes opened a little wider in interest. "They don't, uh, hit you or anything?"

Cindy shook her head. "No, not before the whole trying to kill me thing. Just, you know, a lot of pressure to be perfect. From my mom. You know how she is."

"Your dad? Is he cool?" Jimmy asked while splitting a leaf in half.

"Yeah, he loved me a lot. Guess I'm the daughter of rage and love."

Jimmy laughed. "Clever."

Cindy smiled. "You know what I don't get?"

"What?" Jimmy asked.

"How kids blame themselves for their parents' divorces. I don't fell any shame, and I certainly won't apologize. It's their fault, not mine."

Jimmy nodded. "Good. It's their fault."

Cindy looked at Jimmy. "I tried to run away a few times. Run away from the pain. I felt like I was victimized."

"Tales from another broken home," Jimmy sadly said. Cindy simply nodded.

Jimmy checked his watch. "Well, we better get leaving," he said. They both got up and headed off.

**Author's Note: Yeah, I know this chapter didn't make much sense and did nothing for the plot. It's kind of a fun thing I just did to honor something. Again, review me and tell me if you found the references.**


	13. Superman

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The clerk fidgeted a little as two customers entered his coffee shop. _Why do I always have to serve the freaks?_ A girl wearing sunglasses and jet black hair made her way over to the counter. Following her was a boy whose head was practically shaved. He also wore sunglasses. His jeans and shirt were ripped in that ridiculous new style. He took the toothpick out of his mouth and flung it across the store.

"Yo, G. Can you hook a brother up with a couple of HC's?" The boy asked while leaning against the counter.

"Can you ever talk normally?" The girl angrily asked while shoving him to the floor. "Two hot chocolates, please." She paid the clerk and took the drinks over to a table.

Jimmy sighed as he took a sip of his drink. "You said we should try to fit in."

Cindy swirled her drink around before opening the lid. She took a quick sip of her cocoa before slamming it down on the table. "Too hot," she angrily mumbled. She took another look at Jimmy's sunglasses. "How much did those cost again?"

"Only ten bucks. We have to disguise ourselves, remember?" Jimmy asked while smiling.

After taking another sip of his hot chocolate, Jimmy's smile faded. He whipped his shades off and ran a hand through his few remnants of hair. "Cindy, can we be serious for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," Cindy said while daring another sip from her beverage.

Jimmy put his sunglasses down and rapped his knuckles against the table for a minute. "We've brought it up before, but we never really get into it. And if we're going to do this together, I think we have to get it open."

Cindy frowned a little. _Well, I guess it's time to tell him._ "I agree."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Jimmy nervously asked.

Cindy thought for a moment. "Well, we're not really in a position where we can go on a date. I mean, fleeing from my mom and the cops who think we've been kidnapped takes a lot of time..."

Jimmy looked baffled. "Uh, what?"

"What?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy was confused. "Um, I was asking what our plan is. You know, the whole surviving thing?"

It took a moment for Cindy to realize what he was saying. "Oh," she sadly said. She quickly shook it off and regained her composure. "Well, uh, what do you think we should do?"

Jimmy eyed her strangely for a moment, but then cleared his throat before speaking. "You know our enemies best. What do you think?"

"Well," Cindy began. "The way I see it, we have two choices. We can keep running from her. If we're lucky, maybe the good cops will figure out what's going on and make it safe for us to go home. Or we could find some evidence or something."

Jimmy nodded. "Option two?"

Cindy frowned. "We take care of the problem. Kill her."

"That's dark, Cindy," Jimmy said while looking angry.

"Hey, I don't want to do that. Besides, it's a lot easier said than done."

"Why is your mom after you like this, Cindy? I mean, it can't just be because you'd rather live with your dad. I mean, nobody could be that insane."

Cindy buried her head in her hands. "You'd be surprised, Jimmy. You don't know her like I do."

Jimmy grabbed her hand and patted it. When she looked up, she saw him staring at her with an oddly serious expression. "You sure there's nothing else? No other reason she's doing this?"

Cindy thought for a moment. "Yeah, she's just crazy."

They both looked up as they heard the shop's television turn on. They looked on in intrigue as they realized that the news was on.

"And it has just been confirmed that Mr. Nicholas Vortex is dead. He was the prime suspect in the kidnappings of James Isaac Neutron and his daughter Cynthia Aurora Vortex. The theory at this time is that the two children managed to kill him in self-defense, got nervous after that, and ran away.

If James and Cynthia are listening, the Retroville Police want you to know that you are not in trouble. What you did was justified self-defense. That is all."

Jimmy looked over at Cindy to see her biting her lower lip. "Cindy," he started to say.

Cindy tightened her grip on her drink before slamming it down on the table. "We better get going," she defiantly said.

"Cindy!" Jimmy shouted while grabbing her arm. Cindy turned around, her lip trembling. "Cindy, it's ok. God, if there was ever a right time for you to cry, it's right now."

"I'm fine," Cindy told him. "Let's get moving."

Cindy started to walk away, but Jimmy pulled her back. "God, Cindy! Why is it so hard for you to cry!"

Cindy ripped his hand off of her arm and shoved him away from her. "What did I tell you about talking down to me?"

Jimmy walked back towards her. "Cindy, why is it so hard for you to cry? You don't have to be superman! For god sakes, it's ok to lose it sometimes!"

"Why don't you just shut up and leave me alone, ok?" Cindy angrily shouted at him. "I'm fine!"

"No you're not!"

"Cindy, I know that," Jimmy started to say.

Cindy slapped him. "Shut it! No you don't! Do you have any idea to know what it's like to lose the only person you've ever loved! Do you?" Jimmy remained silent. "Just go back home to your perfect family and leave me alone!"

Jimmy followed her as she ran outside. He tried to keep up with her, but he lost sight of her in the morning crowd. _Do you know what it's like to lose the only person you've ever loved!_ _Do you?_ "Now I do," Jimmy sadly whispered to himself.


	14. Wake Me Up When September Ends

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy pushed past the various businessmen on the sidewalk making their way to work. She looked up and saw a library. She ran up its steps and swung the door open. Ignoring the strange looks she was receiving, she headed straight for the bathrooms.

She went inside the girl's bathroom and entered a stall. She slammed the door shut and locked it. She sat down on the toilet and buried her head in her hands. She finally let the tears flow freely.

_It's too much! God, even I have a breaking point. All this crap with Jimmy, mom trying to kill me, I don't have a plan, and now dad._ After what seemed an eternity, she lifted her head up and stared at the door stall door in front of her.

**Sarah+Jared.** Of course, that got her thinking about Jimmy. "Now I'm on my own," she whispered. She buried her head in her hands again.

"Why do I do it to him? God, he's helped me so much. I got him into all of this. All he was doing was trying to comfort me, and I leave him."

Cindy stood up and paced around in the small stall. _It's just Neutron. Stupid Jimmy. Nerdtron, Spewtron, Big Brain. What do I care? I don't need him. If anything, he drags me down._

Cindy knew she was grasping at straws, any excuse to justify what she had just done to the only person she could count on. "Who am I kidding? We're not in fourth grade anymore. Maybe I do need him."

_No you don't!_ The voice in her head screamed. _You're better than that big-headed jerk! He came here, he stole your spotlight. He's made your life a living hell! Your mom wouldn't even be doing this if she didn't think you were worse than Jimmy. And if Jimmy hadn't moved here, you would still be the best. You wouldn't be going through all of this!_

"But it's not his fault he moved here," she muttered to herself. "And when he's not running around showing himself off, he can be pretty, well, nice. And sweet. And no matter what I say, he's got my back. This whole ordeal proves that." 

_Don't be stupid! This is Jimmy Neutron! The boy you love to hate!_

Am I sure about that? Maybe I don't love to hate him, I hate to love him." 

Cindy unlocked the stall door and exited it. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were red and puffy. She put her hands on the sink and drooped her head, staring into the porcelain bowl.

"Doesn't matter now anyway. I left him. I'm alone now. It's up to me." She picked her head up and stared herself in the mirror. "I can do this."

She stepped outside the bathroom and headed to the adults section. She leafed through the various books and stopped once her fingers rested on a thick hardcover. She took a quick glance around; no one was nearby. She slung her backpack off her shoulder and opened it. She threw in several books.

**A Beginner's Guide to Firearms. Weapons used by Police. History of Handguns.**

Cindy went to another area and started running her eyes down the shelves. They rested on a row of half a dozen books. Taking another quick look around, she shoved a large book into the backpack. **U.S. Laws on Self-Defense.**

She went into the back of the library, which was also empty. She climbed out of the window, and ran down the street._ Time I take the offensive._


	15. I Fought the Law

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The next day Cindy was walking down the street. She stopped in her tracks and took a few steps backwards. _Worth a shot_. She smiled as she walked into a CVS.

Cindy smiled pleasantly at the cashier. She made her way to the cosmetics department in the back of the store. Making sure there weren't any security cameras or people nearby, she placed some lipstick and other makeup into her pockets. She quickly exited the store.

Half an hour later, a painted up Cindy was walking down the street when she noticed several boys around her age playing baseball in a park. She hopped the fence and sat down on a bench. She carefully inspected each of them.

Jimmy noticed that a boy in a green T-shirt had a small bulge in his back pocket. She waited a few moments. After the boys were done playing, she strolled over to her target.

"You were really good out there," Cindy said while matching her pace with the boy's.

"Uh, thanks," the boy nervously said.

Cindy giggled a little. "What's your name?"

"Thomas," the boy said while trying to smile a little.

Cindy rested her gaze on the boy's arm. "Wow, Thomas. You must work out," Cindy said while edging a little closer to him.

"Well, I, uh, you know. I try," Thomas said while blushing.

Cindy took a quick glance at the boy's backside. There was definitely something in that pocket. "So," she said while grabbing his arm. "Uh, what's your favorite position?"

Thomas spit out his water and started to cough. "Wh...what?" he asked while wiping his mouth.

Cindy smiled. "I meant baseball, silly."

Thomas smiled as well. "I, uh, usually do shortstop."

Cindy squeezed his arm. "I hear that shortstop is a pretty tough position. You must be a real man," Cindy said while brushing her other arm past his backside.

Thomas jumped a little. "Well, I better get going," Cindy sadly said. "See you around, Thomas."

Thomas turned around and stared at her as she walked off. "Yeah, you too." He thought for a moment. "Call me!" he desperately shouted.

"You didn't give her your number, idiot," his friend said as they walked off.

_Hope Jimmy never finds out about that. _Cindy stopped for a moment. _But why do I care if he does?_ Cindy shook those thoughts out of her head before continuing her walk. She smiled as she pulled something out of her pocket. It was Thomas' wallet.


	16. Boulevard of Broken Dreams

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. I also don't own the songs in bold. **

Jimmy shuffled his feet down the street. _Eighteen hours and sixteen minutes since I've seen her. Why do I know that?_

Jimmy looked up from his feet to stare around him at the street. It was surprisingly empty for midday on a weekend. In fact, it was completely deserted. Not in the mood to analyze this freak occurance, he continued on.

He kicked a rock that lay at his feet. He watched it fly through the air for a moment before crashing into a garbage can. He heard the metallic _clank!_ as the two items connected. He sighed as he walked past it.

**I walk this empty street, on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.**

**Where the city sleeps, and I'm the only one and I walk alone.**

**I walk alone, I walk alone.**

**I walk alone, and I walk a-**

**My shadow's the only one that walk's beside me!**

Jimmy looked up as he heard the familiar words swim past his ears. He tried to figure out where they were coming from. 

**I'm walking down the line**

**That divides me somewhere in my mind**

**On the border line**

**Of the edge and where I walk alone**

Jimmy started running now as the music became louder. He finally stopped as he looked into an empty parked car. Its window were down. He realized that the radio was on. He was about to continue walking when he remembered something. 

_"Hot wire a car? Are you insane?"_

_"It's that or get shot! Your choice!"_

Jimmy smiled a little at the memory. He continued walking. For a moment, he forget about the situation at hand and thought back to all the things that he and Cindy had done together. 

He was broken out of the memories as he heard something behind him. He turned around to see a couple sitting on a bench kissing. He scowled and slammed his hands back into his pockets. He continued walking down the sidewalk, cursing his rotten luck.

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Cindy flipped through the contents of the wallet. Fifty bucks, a library card, and some pictures. She took the fifty dollars out and threw the wallet on the ground.

She stared down at the ground and watched as her feet slowly shuffled along the sidewalk. Faintly hearing something, she picked her head up.

**Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road.**

**Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.**

**So make the best of this test, and don't ask why.**

**It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time.**

She stopped walking and looked up. She saw a kid a couple of years younger than her sitting on a bus stop. A radio sat by him. Interested in spite herself, she listened to the next few lines. 

**It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right.**

**I hope you had the time of your life.**

Cindy frowned. She angrily kicked an empty soda can across the street and continued walking. She noticed a small plaza to her left. A small clothing store, a convenience store, a restaurant, a movie theatre.

She fingered the fifty dollars in her hand and crossed the street. She was about to enter the restaurant when she noticed a tiny shop at the very end of the plaza. It was a jewelry store. Glancing between the two shops, she headed over to the jewelers.

Stepping slowly inside, she looked at the few small displays. She walked over to a set of necklaces.

"Can I help you?" A man of about thirty asked from behind her.

Cindy jumped a little. "Um, yeah. How much does this cost?" she asked while pointing to a golden necklace.

The man bent forward. "Um, forty dollars."

Cindy thought for a moment. "I'll take it."

As Cindy stood in front of the register, her hand absentmindedly went to her pocket.

_Jimmy seemed angry. "Mind telling me what was so important that you stopped during a car chase to pick up?"_

_I shook my head. Hoping he would drop it, I turned around to look at the stars, but Jimmy grabbed her arm and spun her back around. "My dog, my best friend, got killed back there. You gave me two seconds to grieve. You drop something on the ground, and you spend half a minute trying to get it. What was so damn important that it nearly got us killed?"_

_I met his glare. "None of your business." Jimmy eventually broke the eye contact and let go of my arm._

Cindy fingered the small item that had caused so much trouble between them. She wrapped her fingers around it and pulled it out. "Sir?" 

The jeweler looked up from wrapping her necklace. "Yes?"

"Could you, uh, make it so I can put this on the necklace?" Cindy asked while placing the pearl on the counter.

The mans studied it for a moment before nodding. "Yes, but it will take a little while."

"It's worth the wait," Cindy sadly said.

**Author's Note: Jeez, we're kind of in a rough patch here. I'm going to have to throw some action into the next chapters.**


	17. Beautiful Day

****

Author's Note: I've got things planned out to chapter twenty-seven.

Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Cindy left the jeweler's shop, necklace and pearl in hand. She admired the sparkling gold band clutched in her hand. She smiled a little as she saw the white ball attached at the end. She unclipped it and placed it around her neck.

She jumped as she felt someone else's hands finish putting it on. "Well, I did work hard to get it for you, but it's not worth dying for," Jimmy whispered as he snapped the chain in place. Cindy eagerly turned around and smiled at him.

Jimmy smiled back. Before having time to say anything else, Cindy wrapped him in a giant embrace. She noticed that a tear was rolling down her cheek, but she didn't care. She buried her head into his shoulder. "How did you find me?"

Jimmy squeezed her a little tighter and smelled her hair. "Luck."

After what seemed an eternity spent in paradise, Cindy slowly pulled away from Jimmy. "So," he asked, "this is what we've been fighting about for days? The pearl I gave you?"

Cindy nodded as she grabbed his hand and started leading him down the street. "Ironic, isn't it?" she said while laughing a little. "The little devil brought us closer than ever, yet it nearly tore us apart."

"That's deep, Cind. You spend all night cracking that beautiful gem?"

Cindy turned towards him and smirked. "Well, uh," she struggled. For the first time ever, she couldn't come up with an insult.

Jimmy laughed and continued walking, intertwining their touching fingers. "So, where'd you spend the night?"

"Library bathroom. I hid in there while they locked up," Cindy embarrassingly told him. "You?"

"Outside a cardboard box with a hobo named Jim," Jimmy said, shaking his head at the disturbing memory. "He offered to let me inside with him, but the price was, uh, a little steep," Jimmy quietly said while quickly glancing at his crotch.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. "Cindy, we've got to, well, not do that anymore. We can't keep splitting up every twelve hours we have a fight. We gotta decide right now. We in this together or not?"

Cindy smiled a little. "In it from day one, Jimmy."

"Me too," he quickly replied.

After another few moments spent strolling along in silence, Cindy finally expressed her fear. "Jimmy?" she asked, barely speaking above a whisper.

Jimmy turned to face her. "What's wrong?"

Cindy released Jimmy's grip on her hand and nervously twiddled her hair. "Did you ever think, that, well...maybe we're not meant to be together?"

Jimmy's smile faded. "What do you mean?"

Cindy sighed. "Like, fate has us set as enemies."

Jimmy's eyes narrowed at the word _fate_. "Cindy, you know there's no such thing as fate."

Cindy groaned. "Can you put aside your scientific beliefs for one second and think about my question?" Cindy took a deep breath. "It seems like every time we get closer, something happens. Look, it's happening right now! You give me a pearl, and we get rescued and go back our normal lives. We go on an adventure together, we argue and split up. It's happening right now! We just got close again, and we're already arguing!

It's just that we always end up splitting up," she told him, defeated.

Jimmy looked into her emerald eyes. "You're seeing it wrong, Cindy. We don't always get together and split; we always split and get back together. We always end up with each other no matter what."

"You're a the 'glass is half-full' kind of guy, aren't you?" Cindy asked him.

Jimmy laughed. "Well, we're together right now, aren't we? And ultimately, Cindy, we control our own destinies. And it's about damn time I be honest with you. I want my destiny to be you. So it's up to you, Cind. Do you want to be with me?"

Cindy looked into his eyes. Behind his brave facade and touching speech, she could see despair and fear. Fear of being rejected again. _Don't you dare mess this up._ Steeling herself, she grabbed his cheeks and kissed him.

Two seconds later, they pulled apart. They leaned their heads together, noses touching. Staring into each other's eyes, they let out their breaths and their fears.

Cindy ran her hand down Jimmy's arm, and his body shook a little with delight. He grabbed her hand as it left his arm and began to retreat to her side. He pulled his body away a little and licked his lips.

"We, uh, better get going," he softly said with a smile. Cindy nodded, smiling as well. They looked away and slung their backpacks back over their shoulder. Glancing at each other once again, they smiled before grabbing the other's hand and heading off towards the horizon.


	18. All Star

Author's Note: Thanks again for all of the reviews. Forty-five at this time. But I've only gotten one review over the past five chapters at this time. Please review me, it makes me happy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

"Ah!" Jimmy screamed while waking up. His pupils contracted as the bright light of the sun came into view. He jumped off of the ground and looked at his shaking hands. "It was just a dream," he whispered to himself. 

He took a look around at his pathetic bed. A jacket lay on the ground with a pillow, a backpack at the end. At its side lay a sleeping Cindy, lying on a park bench. He rubbed his aching back while walking over to her.

"Cind. Cind, we've got to get going," he whispered while gently shaking her.

Cindy grumbled, but sat up. She took a few moments to shake the drowsiness from her eyes before standing up. She looked over to see Jimmy taking things out of his backpack.

"You get anything that day we were apart?" Jimmy asked. Cindy tossed him the wallet she swiped from Thomas.

Jimmy nodded. "Alright. We've got my pen laser, ten bucks," he said while opening the wallet, "the broken cell phone, and those credit cards."

They both stared at their small pile of supplies. "So," Cindy finally said, "guess we better get heading out?"

Jimmy threw the items into his backpack. "Yeah, guess so." He took a moment to look at his surroundings. "We're at the border between Oklahoma and Texas. We might as well head north. If we'll be running for a while, we might as well head that way. The northern states have a lot of woods to hide in. Of course, let's hope we'll get this thing fixed by then."

Cindy nodded as she put her backpack on. "Guess." She turned around and frowned a little. "See ya, Texas. Maybe we'll come back one day."

Jimmy nodded while taking a step forward. Cindy followed suit. They hadn't gone ten yards when they heard somebody screaming behind them.

"Let go of me!" a boy around their age shouted. Jimmy and Cindy turned around to see the boy being tackled to the ground by a teenager.

"Boy, I've been waiting a long time for this, kid!" the teen shouted while standing up and drawing back his fist.

Jimmy and Cindy ran at the teen and both tackled him to the ground. The boy crawled a little bit backwards and jumped to his feet.

"Come here you little pieces of shit!" the bully angrily yelled while kicking Jimmy and Cindy off of him. He mumbled various obscenities as he pulled himself up. Jimmy lay on the ground while Cindy jumped back up onto her feet.

She took a fighting stance as the teen came towards her and swung his fist. She ducked and did a roundhouse kick. It connected, but it did about as much effect as kicking a steel door.

Barely knocked back, the teenager regained his composure and viciously hit Cindy across the face. She fell face first onto the ground.

The boy, whose name was Adam, stared at Cindy for a moment before glaring at the teen. Jimmy did the same.

"Hey!" they both shouted at the same time. Jimmy and Adam gave each other a strange look before returning their attention to the bully.

"Leave these guys out of it, Sawyer!" Adam yelled.

Cindy rubbed her aching cheek as she watched the three boys glare at each other.

Sawyer smiled as he looked at the two puny kids. "Uh-huh." He started to walk towards them.

Ready to fight dirty on account of what Sawyer had done to Cindy; Jimmy bent down and picked up a large rock. As Sawyer realized what he was doing, Jimmy smiled a little and flung it into his head.

"Damn it!" Sawyer shouted as blood began to pour from the wound. Adam rushed forward and slammed his fist into Sawyer's face several times.

Jimmy and Adam pulled back a few feet as Cindy stood up and joined them. Sawyer cursed as he stood up, still determined to fight. He fell back a little as he saw the three kids in front of him, fists raised.

"Touch her again and I kill you," Jimmy seethed. Sawyer was about to retort, but saw another rock clenched in Jimmy's hand.

"See ya when you don't have your little posse around," he grumbled before walking off.

Adam smiled a little as he saw Sawyer slowly walk away. He turned around to see Jimmy examining Cindy's wound. "You alright?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'll be fine," Cindy grumbled while gently tossing his hands off of her face. She softened as she saw the hurt look on his face. "But thanks for caring."

"Hey, you guys ok?" Adam asked while rejoining them.

Cindy gave him a look like he was an idiot.

"Ok, stupid question," Adam said with a slight chuckle. "Thanks for your help. But of course I could have taken him myself," he joked while cracking his knuckles. "I've been in my fair share of fights."

Cindy cocked an eyebrow. "Win any?"

Adam stopped smiling. "You guys got a name?"

"I'm Dave," Jimmy told him.

"And I'm Sarah," Cindy said. "And I take it your name is Adam?"

"Yep," Adam said while outstretching his hand. Jimmy and Cindy both shook it.

Adam looked at his watch and frowned. "Jeez, that pothead made us late for school. Come on you guys, we better get going."

Jimmy and Cindy nervously looked at each other. "Um, well, we don't go to your school," Jimmy explained.

Adam gave them a strange look, but then laughed. "Good one. You had me there for a second. Everyone knows this town's only got one school."

Jimmy and Cindy shot each other another nervous look. They were about to protest some more when a police officer walked up to the three kids.

"You kids must be late. Shouldn't you be heading to school?" he asked them.

Cindy hid behind the boys to hide her bloody face. "No officer, we were just about to get going," Adam explained while shooting Jimmy and Cindy strange looks.

"Good. You kids better get on your way," the cop said before going on his way.

"You guys coming?" Adam asked while heading off.

Jimmy and Cindy shrugged as the cop turned around and looked back at them. They grabbed each other's hand and started off with Adam.


	19. Going Away To College

Author's Note. Response to _El Chupacabra's _chapter 12 review: That would be cool, but wouldn't Cindy change her name to Whatsername and Jimmy to Jesus?

Thanks a lot for all of the great reviews, again. I jumped on this morning and saw eight more reviews than last night.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. And I don't own the song titles in the chapters' names either.

After walking in silence for a few minutes, Adam looked to his right at Cindy and Jimmy. He smiled a little as he saw that they were still holding hands.

"I've heard of high school sweethearts, but never elementary school ones," he joked.

Cindy shot him an angry glance, but Jimmy put his other hand on his shoulder. "So, not much longer until we get to school, right?" Jimmy asked.

Adam laughed again. "Jeez, it's like this is the first time you've gone to school," he told them. Cindy and Jimmy nervously chuckled. "Only a quarter of a mile left." Adam stooped down for a moment to tie his shoe. "So, whose your teacher?"

Jimmy cleared his throat. "Well, um..._our_ teacher is, uh, Ms...Smith."

"Why didn't you guys just tell me you were new to the city? Ms. Smith is my teacher! No wonder I've never seen you around before."

"Ms. Smith is your teacher?" Cindy incredulously asked. Adam nodded. Jimmy and Cindy slapped their foreheads in frustration.

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"You had to pick Ms. Smith," Cindy angrily whispered as the Jimmy, Adam, and herself roamed the halls, heading towards their classroom.

"How was I supposed to know?" Jimmy shot back. "Let's just get in the stupid classroom, lay low, and get the heck out of this city after school."

"Fine," Cindy angrily said.

They gulped as Adam swung open the classroom door and walked inside. Cindy and Jimmy let go of each other's hand and followed him.

"Sorry I'm late, Ms. Smith," Adam said while walking to his seat and taking his backpack off.

"Ugh, that's alright, Adam," Ms. Smith said while turning her attention away from the chalkboard and to the late students. "And who are you two?"

"This is Sarah and Dave. They're new here," Adam explained while digging his stuff out of his backpack.

Ms. Smith cocked an eyebrow. "You're starting at a new school now? It's June!"

Jimmy took a step forward. "Um, well, you know how parents are. Never take into consideration their kids lives when they move. Heh."

Cindy stood next to Jimmy. Ms. Smith eyed them before speaking. "So...are you two brother and sister?"

Cindy and Jimmy jumped back. "God no!" Cindy shrieked.

"We're just friends. Who lived in the same city. And moved to the same new city. At the same time. And go to the same new school. In the same new classroom," Jimmy explained. His voice grew more uncertain after every sentence, realizing how pathetic his lie was.

"Well, ok then," Ms. Smith nervously told them while taking a seat at her desk. "I'll just have to call the office and get some forms filled out..."

"No!" Cindy and Jimmy both shouted.

"Excuse me?" Ms. Smith skeptically asked.

"It's um, well, I'll go to the office for you. I know where it is, Adam showed me when we came in," Jimmy volunteered. "Please? I, uh, really need to use the bathroom. I'll go on the way."

"I'll go too. You know, to fill out my forms," Cindy explained.

Ms. Smith just shook her head in disbelief. This wasn't what she had expected when she had become a teacher. Two new students in June! "Fine, just hurry."

Jimmy and Cindy ran out of the classroom and hid in the men's restroom. "Let's just forget this and run out the front door!" Cindy whispered.

Jimmy was about to agree when the principal came on the loudspeaker.

"Please excuse the interruption. I forgot to mention earlier that today's lunch is cheeseburgers, mozarella sticks, and brownies. That is all."

Cindy and Jimmy stared at each other. "Did he say cheeseburgers?" Cindy quietly asked.

"And mozeralla sticks?" Jimmy whispered back.

"I guess we can stay for lunch," Cindy ventured.

"What could go wrong?" Jimmy agreed while they stepped out of the bathroom and headed back to class.


	20. Cement

****

Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

Jimmy and Cindy kept shooting each other anxious looks as they sat at their desks across from each other, staring at the clock. Jimmy raised his hand to bite his fingernails, but brought it back to his desk and began to tap his fingers against it.

_Riiiinnnnggg!_ Jimmy and Cindy were the first to jump out of their seats and run out the door. The other kids stared in amazement as they dashed down the hallways.

Jimmy burst open the doors to the serving area of the cafeteria and slid across the floor, stopping in front of the trays. Cindy was right behind him. He grabbed a Styrofoam and flung it behind him like a Frisbee. Cindy caught it as Jimmy grabbed another off of the pile.

Their eyes watered slightly as they stared at the heaps of food in front of them. They threw mozzarella sticks, brownies, cheeseburgers, milk, and some random vegetables. They clenched their teeth to stop from screaming in joy as they approached the register.

The lunch lady eyed their two trays, making sure that all of their food constituted only two lunches. _Kids think they're so smart piling that tray full of food. They're just gonna toss half of it._ "One twenty-five each, kids."

"It's for both of us," Jimmy said while handing her his ten dollar bill. The lunch lady groaned as she opened the register and began to get Jimmy and Cindy their change. After a few moments of fumbling around she handing Jimmy his seven fifty.

Jimmy and Cindy grinned widely as they sat at a nearby table. Just as they started to begin eating their first real meal in days, Adam slammed his tray on the table and took a seat next to them.

"God, you guys must be really hungry. I haven't seen people leave a classroom that fast since the last day of school last year," he said while rubbing his hands together and staring at his delicious meal. He then looked up to see Jimmy and Cindy tearing into theirs. "Dudes, you alright?" he asked, a little concerned.

Cindy and Jimmy quickly nodded while shoveling more food into their mouths. "We're just hungry," Jimmy said between swallows.

"Um, ok then. It's like you guys haven't had a meal in days," Adam quietly said while taking a bite out of his cheeseburger.

"You going to eat those?" Jimmy asked, pointing to Adam's chips.

"Um, I guess not," Adam told Jimmy while tossing the chips his way, a little scared that Jimmy would bite him if his arm got too close. "So, you guys looking forward to the assembly next?"

Jimmy and Cindy lifted up their heads in interest. "There's an assembly?" Jimmy asked.

Adam slapped a hand to his forehead. "That's right, you guys are new. Yeah, we're having an assembly next. It's probably going to be boring, but it's better than going to class, right?"

Jimmy and Cindy stared at each other and nodded. "So, what's it about?" Cindy questioned.

"It's on," Adam started to explain, but he was interrupted by the bell. "Might as well keep it a surprise. Come on, we better get to the gym fast if we want good seats up front."

Cindy and Jimmy hopped off of their seats, threw out their trash, and headed towards the gymnasium.


	21. Freak Me Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. **

Author's Note: _Samuraistar_, I'M A BOY!

Cindy, Jimmy, and Adam walked through the halls towards the gym. Jimmy and Cindy quickly smiled at each other, glad to get back into the normal swing of things.

"This is going to be great, guys. Two whole hours out of class. That doesn't happen every day, you know," Adam excitedly told them while taking their seats in the gymnasium.

"It's June, Adam. We wouldn't be doing much anyway," Cindy off-handedly explained to him.

Adam appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Yeah, about June. What's up with you two starting school in June? I mean, that's really weird. And you two obviously knew each other before you moved here. What, did your parents ship off together or something?"

"Uh," Jimmy nervously said while clearing his throat. "Quiet man, the assembly's starting," he said with relief as the principal came onto the stage.

After the principal gave his introductions, a man dressed in a blue uniform came onto the stage.

"Welcome students," he happily shouted into the microphone. "We have a real treat for you today. My fellow squad members have come all the way from Retroville to give you a special look into the life of a policeman. So please welcome our opening speaker, Captain Smith!"

Jimmy's draw dropped as he realized the assembly was about the Retroville Police. He looked to his right to see an equally shocked Cindy staring at him. "Could this get any..."he started to ask.

"Don't you dare say it!" Cindy angrily screamed at him. Adam elbowed her in the stomach and told her to be quiet.

"I'm Captain Smith, and I'm the head of the Retroville Police," a well-built man of about thirty said while coming onto the stage.

Cindy whimpered at their unbelievably bad luck. "It's him again!" she whispered to Jimmy.

Jimmy looked at the man on stage. "Who are you...oh my god! It's boyfriend guy!"

Cindy looked at him strangely before grabbing his hand. "We've got to get out of here before he sees us.

Jimmy nodded as they stood up and tried to sneak out of the gym. "Where are you going?" Adam asked as Cindy stepped on his foot.

"Bathroom," they both said.

"Together?" a disturbed Adam asked.

"It's a couple thing," Cindy whispered back.

_What the heck is up with those two?_ Adam wondered before getting up and following them.

Captain Smith looked up from his index cards to the small commotion going on up in the stands. His frown curled into a small smile as he recognized the two kids exiting the room, followed by another boy. _How deliciously ironic._

"And now I'm going to pass things off to my good friend Officer Zimmerman," he said while stepping backstage.

"I've got to go use the restroom," he informed his fellow officers before pushing his way past his men and heading out into the hall.

"I knew we shouldn't have done this!" Cindy whispered as loud as she dared while quickly walking through the halls, looking for an exit.

"What should we have done, Cindy? There was a cop practically ready to arrest us for skipping school!" Jimmy shot back while descending a flight of stairs.

Cindy Adam thought as he followed them. _Her name is Sarah._

"We could have followed that stupid kid Whatshisname for a while and then taken another path!" 

"Hey, you wanted that lunch as much as I did!" Jimmy retorted, nearly shouting now.

Adam struggled to keep up as they started running down the hallway towards the exit.

Jimmy and Cindy emerged outside and looked around. "We'll never outrun Captain Crooked on foot," Cindy sadly said.

"Jackpot!" Jimmy happily exclaimed while running around a corner. Cindy followed him and saw a bike rack.

Cindy smiled as Jimmy whipped out his pen laser and began slicing the chains and locks protecting the bikes.

"Hold it!" Adam shouted while running up to the two of them and kicking the pen laser out of a surprised Jimmy's hand. "Who the Hell are you guys?"

"Out of the way!" Cindy shouted while attempting to gently push Adam out of the way.

Adam grabbed her wrist and shoved her backwards a little. "Your names aren't Dave and Sarah, are they?" he asked while lunging towards the pen laser as Jimmy did the same thing. He picked it up first. Jimmy cursed himself.

"There is no time for this!" Jimmy angrily shouted.

"What the heck are you doing? Running from those cops? Stealing bikes? This isn't the Dave and Sarah I know!"

Jimmy heard the doors around the corner swing open. "You're right! That's cause we're not Dave and Sarah!" he said while hitting Adam as hard as he could across the face.

Cindy scooped up the dropped laser and started splitting the chains while Adam gave Jimmy a rough uppercut.

"Good to go!" Cindy shouted as she grabbed a bike and ran forward, ramming it into Adam's stomach. Jimmy took it and hopped on. Cindy took the other bike she had freed and jumped on as well. They pedaled as fast as they could towards the street.

Just as Jimmy and Cindy rounded a corner, Captain Smith burst onto the scene. He ran over to Adam, who was rubbing his aching jaw. "Which way did they go?" he demanded.

Adam pushed himself off the ground and pointed down the street. Captain Smith nodded and headed towards the parking lot to grab his patrol car, yelling into his radio while running.

Adam brushed the dirt off of his pants and wiped the blood from his lip. He stared at the corner Jimmy and Cindy had just turned. "Bitch," he muttered under his breath before heading back to school.

**Author's Note: There's too much to put at the end of this chapter, so I put it on my User Lookup. Check it out for some spoilers for this story and reasons why I haven't been updating.**


	22. First Date

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of your reviews on my stories, _badwolf1_. I'll try to get a look at your stories this weekend.**

**Disclaimer: Let's be serious. If I owned the show, why would I be writing FAN fiction?**

"Let's do this," Jimmy said while pedaling as fast as he could down the street.

"Agreed," Cindy said while holding back her strength to stay at the same pace as Jimmy. "You got a plan Big Brain?"

"Just follow me," Jimmy said with a smile as the first set of cop cars flew over the small speed bump behind them, sirens blaring.

Jimmy and Cindy took a sharp left turn and started down another road. The cops were barely behind them. "You willing to take a wild chance?" Jimmy asked.

"Always," Cindy told him.

"Split up and meet at the park," Jimmy said while taking a left.

Hesitating, Cindy nodded and took a right.

Jimmy started pedaling through someone's front yard. "How ya' doin' neighbor!" he shouted while flying past a man watering his garden. _Cindy's right. I do spend way too much time in that lab._

"Follow them!" Captain Smith desperately shouted into his radio to his two fellow cop cars. "Sanchez, take the girl. Joe, follow me after the boy."

"This so beats school!" Cindy shouted while pedaling as fast as she could through a field. A cop car was right behind her. Her adrenaline pumping and hair flowing wildly in the wind, she couldn't help but smile.

Jimmy emerged onto a street once he had crossed that yard. Two cop cars stood at the end of the street. _This'll either help me or kill me_, he thought to himself while picking up speed. He headed straight at the two cars at the end of the road.

The two cars accelerated towards him. The gap between them quickly shrinking, Jimmy didn't falter at all. Captain Smith simply grinned and picked up his speed. The officer in the other car began to sweat nervously as he came dangerously close to hitting Jimmy.

The second car swerved to the left just as it was about to hit Jimmy. It accidentally bumped Captain Smith's car, sending it onto the sidewalk. Jimmy Simply pedaled away.

"What the hell were you thinking!" Captain Smith angrily shouted while climbing out of his car and approaching Joe.

"He's just a kid! We can't kill him!" Joe told him.

Captain Smith clenched his teeth in fury and grabbed his gun in one hand and his radio in the other. "Captain Smith radioing headquarters. Suspect Neutron has escaped down Main Street. Armed and dangerous. He has shot my partner," he said into the radio.

"He didn't," Joe started to say, but Smith turned around and popped a bullet into his head.

Cindy continued pedaling through the field, the cop car right behind her. She pedaled up a steep hill and flew off. Bracing herself, she jumped off of her bike and hit the ground hard. Rolling to absorb the blow, she struggled to keep her screams of pain from getting out. As she lay flat on the ground, she clenched her hand around some sand.

"Are you ok?" Officer Sanchez nervously asked as he approached the girl.

"Alright, you got me. I'm just a kid," Cindy said while slowly outstretching a hand. officer Sanchez took out and helped her up. "Sorry," she said while spinning around and throwing her fistful of sand into his eyes.

"Ah!" he shouted while lifting his hands up to his face. Cindy lashed at his side and whipped out his gun out _Girlfight_-style.

Taking a step back, she quickly gave the gun a once-over. _Glock 22. Standard police issue. Fifteen bullet magazine_, she thought while aiming the gun at the cop.

"Don't do anything crazy, kid. You don't even know how to work a gun," he told her while keeping his hands up. He took a couple of steps toward her.

Cindy pulled the slide back with her right hand and let it go, sliding back into position. She lowered the gun and fired a shot in front of the cop's foot. She then aimed it back at the shocked cop's chest. "I'm a quick learner," she said with a smirk.

"Toss me the extra magazine," she shouted at him. He hesitated. "Do it or I blow your bloody head off!" she screamed while tightening her grip on the trigger. The cop slowly reached into his pocket and tossed her a clip of ammo.

"And the pepper spray," she instructed once she had slipped the magazine into her side pocket. The policeman nodded and reached for his belt. He wrapped his hand around the can, his index finger on the button that would release the agent.

"Finger down, buddy," Cindy said while moving the gun up from his chest to his head. The cop moved his hand down to the body of the can and tossed it to her. She caught it and slipped it to her other pocket.

"Good," she said while taking a step forward. She kicked him in the crotch so he would bend over. She then grabbed his neck and pushed him to the ground. She shoved the gun to his temple.

"Please don't kill me," he begged. "I've got a wife and kids."

Cindy's face hardened. "I'm not a killer." She moved the gun slightly away from his head. He started to get up, but she shoved the gun back to his head. "But I'm _not_ an ordinary kid. Call the cops off. Or next time you won't be so lucky," she said while whipping out the pepper spray. She sprayed in his eyes.

"Damn it!" he shouted while covering his eyes and rolling over in the dirt. Cindy took this opportunity to run as fast as she could to the park.

Jimmy rode into the park just as Cindy hopped a fence and ran up to him. They took their eyes off of the grass ahead and looked at each other.

"You made it," Jimmy said, a little relieved.

"How sweet you care," she sarcastically said, but a hint of actual gratefulness snuck through.

Just as they were about to turn their gaze back ahead, they slammed into three other bikers.

"OW!" they all shouted as they fell to the ground.

"Sorry," one of the bikers quickly said before lifting his head up, prepared to continue riding.

"No problem," Jimmy angrily seethed while pulling his bike back up at the same time as the other riders. They stared at each other.

"What is it?" Cindy asked while struggling to get to her feet.

As soon as she looked at the other bikers, she froze as well.

"Hey guys," Libby said. Sheen and Carl just looked on in awe, as did Jimmy and Cindy.


	23. Five Friends, Four Enemies

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The five friends each took a step closer to each other. Each had the same look etched onto their faces. One of amazement, confusion, and relief. Jimmy and Libby each asked the same question. "What are you doing here?"

"Us?" Libby asked with a laugh. "What the heck are you guys doing here?"

"We're in Oklahoma! We're on the run! Why the heck are you guys here?" Jimmy shouted.

Jimmy and Libby started shouting about there situations, with Carl and Sheen looking on.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Carl timidly asked.

"Are you kidding? I never see Libs riled up!" Sheen excitedly shouted.

"Everybody shut the hell up!" Cindy shouted.

"What is it?" Jimmy and Libby angrily asked, turning around to face her, as did Carl and Sheen.

Everyone's faces fell. "Here we go again," Jimmy said while hopping onto his bike. Two more cop cars were barreling through the entrance to the park.

"You know the drill," Libby said to Carl and Sheen.

Cindy hopped onto Jimmy's handlebars, since she didn't have a bike anymore. Jimmy quickly turned to Libby. "Cops after you too?"

"If we make it through this, we've got to stop and compare notes," a surprised Libby told him.

"Agreed," Jimmy said with a smile.

"Move it!" Cindy urgently shouted. Jimmy turned his attention back in front of him and kicked off.

Libby, Carl, and Sheen pedaled off as well. No sooner had their feet left the ground then they were speeding through the park.

"I've got a gun," Cindy shouted above the wind flying by them.

"What?" Jimmy shouted.

"I took if off one of the cops. We could take them out," she told him, jerking with her thumb at the cops behind them. "Well, not _them_, but their wheels.

Jimmy took a quick glance to his left at the kids staring at the cop cars fly by. "No way. There are kids around."

"This is your last chance to surrender peacefully! We have been authorized to use deadly force!" a cop's voice came over the radio.

"They can't kill kids!" Carl nervously shouted, unaware that Jimmy was now suspected of shooting a cop.

"Into the woods!" Jimmy shouted. Everyone followed him into the park's forest.

The two cars pulled to a stop at the entrance of the woods, barely any distance between them and the kids. They jumped out of their cars and advanced down the narrow pathway on foot.

The trail riddled with rocks and uneven paths, Jimmy, Cindy, Libby, Carl, and Sheen abandoned their bikes and started running through the woods on foot.

"Give me the gun," Jimmy urged as they delved off of the path and started running through the woods.

Cindy brushed a branch out of her way and stared at Jimmy. "You really want to use this?"

Jimmy shook his head. "Nope," he said while grabbing it out of her hands.

Libby, Sheen, and Carl stopped beside the two. "Is this really the time to stop?" Sheen ecstatically shouted.

Everyone quickly shut up as they heard footsteps nearby. "Duck!" Libby whispered as loud as she dared. Everyone fell onto the ground and buried themselves into a pile of leaves.

Three policemen and one female officer stood in front of them. The five kids held their breath as they stared at the eight legs in front of them, struggling to see past the wall of leaves.

"They're definitely in this park. Send in squad unit 3 and the search dogs. They're not getting out of this one," Captain Smith's angry voice spoke into a radio.

Everyone's pupils shifted towards Jimmy, who was clutching the gun. He raised it up slightly and aimed it at Captain Smith's legs. He pulled the slide back and allowed it to snap back into position. His hand trembling, he tighten his finger around the trigger.


	24. Flashback Time

**Author's Note: The chapters will not be named after song titles anymore.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy's hand still trembling, he lowered the gun as the four officers walked away. Once they were out of their sight, the five children emerged from the pile of leaves.

"They would have shot us before we could take all four out," Jimmy said while tucking the gun into the back of his pants.

"Yeah," Cindy sadly said. "Guess it would have."

Cindy and Jimmy turned to Libby, Carl, and Sheen. "Looks like we're not getting out of this one. Might as well kill some time before the rest of the force arrives. Care telling us what you're doing out here?" Cindy asked.

Libby, Carl, and Sheen glanced at each other. "Might as well," Libby sadly said while taking a seat on a nearby boulder. "Well, it all started when you disappeared, what was it? Four days ago."

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"Attention class," Ms. Fowl said as the bell rang to signal the beginning of school on that crisp, June morning.

"I'm telling you, they're fine, Libby. Even Jimmy and Cindy miss a day of school once in a while," Sheen told a worried Libby. He laughed. "Heck, maybe they're playing hooky.

Carl, Sheen, and Libby looked at each other before cracking up. Libby stared straight ahead. "Yeah, like that would ever happen," she said while winking.

"Quiet!" Ms. Fowl screeched while angrily glaring at Sheen, Carl, and Libby. "Anyway, I have some bad news. It appears that Jimmy and Cindy have been kidnapped by Cindy's father. I'm very sorry. But knowing our Jimmy, I'm sure he'll come up with something," she said hopefully, although her nervousness showed.

The class erupted into a series of shouts, each demanding to know what had happened to the beautiful and popular Cindy. And the big-headed guy.

The rest of the day passed slowly for the Libby and the boys. As each minute flew by without news of Jimmy and Cindy's situation, they grew more and more afraid for their safety. As the final bell rang, the three of them burst out of the classroom and out the front door of the school.

"I think we should go over and comfort Jimmy and Cindy's parents," Libby sadly said while beginning the walk home.

"Yeah, let's go visit Jimmy's first. Cindy's house scares me," Carl softly mentioned.

"I agree," Sheen said while popping his head out from behind Carl's back and nodding.

Libby, despite her friendship with Jimmy, was much more concerned about her best friend at the moment. And with Jimmy and Cindy gone, she looked at herself as the leader of the group.

"With Jimmy and Cindy gone, I look at myself as the leader of the group," Libby proudly said.

"Nuh-uh!" Carl shouted while putting his hands on his hips and frowning.

"Yeah, why are you the third in command?" Sheen questioned.

"Well, let's see," Libby said while counting reasons off on her fingers. "I'm the smartest of the three of us, Carl's too scared to fight me, you're in love with me Sheen, and I have royal blood."

"She's got a point," Sheen told Carl. "To Cindy's then!"

Ten minutes later the three kids stood on the sidewalk next to Cindy's house. Libby turned her attention from the front door to Sheen and Carl. "Now remember. Her husband's snapped and her daughter is gone. Let's handle this sensitively."

"Sensititive...sensistive...sens...nicely. Got it!" Sheen struggled to say.

"Good," Libby said while knocking on the door. A somewhat distressed Mrs. Vortex opened the door.

"Sorry your hubbie's gone cuckoo and your daughter's run off with her arch-rival," Sheen said while walking inside.

"Oh, that's quite alright," Mrs. Vortex calmly said while ushering the children inside. "I'm sure the police will find them soon. They have an excellent captain, you know."

"We just wanted to make sure you're holding up ok," Libby said while patting Mrs. Vortex's arm. Cindy will find a way to get them out of this."

"Hah," Sheen laughed from the kitchen. He pulled a soda out of the fridge.

"_Anyway_...is there anything we can do for you?"

"No no, I'll be fine. I just need to be alone," Mrs. Vortex said while politely ushering them back outside. "I have some, business to attend to."

"Alright then," Libby said while opening the front door for her friends. She suddenly stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot. I left a book in Cindy's room when I was over here last weekend. Would you mind if I went up and got it?"

"No, of course not," Cindy's mother sweetly said while moving out of Libby's way as she headed towards the stairs.

Carl, Sheen, and Mrs. Vortex stared at each other, clearly uncomfortable. Carl started whistling. "So, Terry O Quin's a pretty good actor, huh?" Sheen asked.

"Jesus," Mrs. Vortex mumbled while sadly shaking her head.

"He was pretty good in _Passion of the Christ_," Sheen agreed.

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Upstairs, Libby rustled through Cindy's bureau. _Come on, I know I left it here_. "Here we go," she happily said while finally pulling her book out. She was about to go back downstairs when a piece of paper fell out of the middle of the book.

"What's this?" she asked while picking it up and unfolding it.

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"What's taking Libby so long?" Sheen impatiently asked.

Mrs. Vortex sighed. "I'll go see if I can help her," she said while jogging up the stairs.

Carl and Sheen looked at each other, clearly uncomfortable. "So," Carl began. "That Libby's pretty hot, huh?"

Sheen furrowed his eyebrows in anger.

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Libby stared down at the note in disbelief.

**Whoever finds this, mom's gone psycho and is trying to kill me. No joke. Cops won't help.**

**Cindy**

"Mrs. Vortex tried to kill Cindy?" Libby asked nobody in particular, just as Cindy's mother entered the room.

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"Then what happened?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, she heard me and figured out that I knew what she had done. So, she started to attack me. I grabbed a lamp and knocked her out good. Sheen, Carl, and I go the heck out of there. We were going to go to the police, but your note said not to, Cindy. So we started running, and they've been chasing us ever since," Libby explained.

"But," Sheen interjected, "my number one girl over here had a plan. Before we left Retroville, we paid a quick hello to your folks, Jimmy. While we were there Libby plucked a strand of your hair. We snuck into your lab, grabbed your DNA tracky thingy, plugged the hair in, and it showed us about where you were. We've been trying to find you guys ever since," Sheen proudly said while squeezing Libby.

Everyone nodded their head in approval, except for Jimmy, who had his eyes closed and was thinking of something.

"Well, thanks guys. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it matters. The whole police force will be here soon, and we can't escape."

Suddenly Jimmy's eyes shot open. "Oh yes we can." He turned towards Libby. "Toss me the DNA tracker."

**Author's Note: If you checked my reviews, you'll see what appears to be one from myself. I did not send that. My little sister wanted to review me, but I hadn't logged out of my account. So again, I'm not so pathetic that I review my own stories.**


	25. Leave It To Jimmy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Libby rummaged through her backpack for a moment before coming up with the DNA tracker. She handed it over to Jimmy. "What are you going to do?"

Jimmy didn't say anything as he flipped the tracker over and smiled a little. He pulled off the cover and grabbed the two large batteries. He set them on the ground as he pulled out the broken cell phone he had found in the sports car.

"Libby, I need your cell phone's batteries and a bunch of narrow dry sticks. Cindy, I need some live ones incase the dry ones won't work. Hurry!" Jimmy shouted while pulling the batteries out of the cell phone.

Libby tossed Jimmy her cell phone's batteries and jumped up and ran off to gather the supplies. Cindy followed her. Carl and Sheen looked on in utter confusion as Jimmy opened his backpack and began to fish through the various supplies he had collected on his journey.

"Come on, come on," he whispered while digging through some supplies he had stolen from the school. "Got ya!" he happily exclaimed as he pulled out the carton of cigarettes he had also gotten from the stolen car.

Libby and Cindy ran back and dropped their sticks in front of Jimmy. "What are you doing?" Cindy asked while she kneeled down next to Jimmy.

Jimmy pulled his pen laser out of pocket and took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Making a little distraction for the cops," he told her. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what to do.

"Alright, here we go," he muttered. Libby, Sheen, Carl, and Cindy kneeled down next to him as he got to work.

Jimmy laid the batteries next to each other on the ground. He took his pen laser out and gathered some of the dry twigs. Using the laser, he made a small hole in each of the batteries. Taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from his brow, he carefully inserted the end of a dry stick into each of the batteries.

"Step one down," he happily said while taking the shoelaces out of his shoes. He then took a cigarette out of the carton. He put the cigarette in his mouth and bit off the bottom half. He tied the cigarette to the twigs (which he had bunched together). He made sure that only the bottom of the cigarette was attached to the twigs. Most of it extended off of the branches.

Jimmy pulled out his pen laser once again and sighed. "Commercial cigarettes burn approximately and inch every eight minutes," he started to explain while setting the laser's setting to the lowest possible.

"Unfortunately, the cops should be here in less than five. So I've made the cigarette half of its length," he continued while taking a nearby thick branch and lighting it.

"The cigarette acts as a time delay. In approximately four minutes the cigarette will burn down to the branches. The branches will get caught on fire. Within seconds the fire will enter the batteries. Batteries are composed of a highly flammable liquid. The batteries from my DNA tracker are a very powerful type. They will create a sizeable explosion. The cell phone batteries will also explode. By the time they explode, we'll be half a mile away. The cops will hear the explosion, run over to investigate, and leave us a perfect opening to escape."

Everyone nodded in amazement. Libby looked over at Cindy. "I would have thought of that eventually."

Jimmy smiled. "Unfortunately, the cops would have been here by nightfall."

"Watch it, Big Brain," Cindy angrily whispered, but a small smile spread across her face.

"Get ready to run," he said while moving the flame towards the cigarette on the ground. The cigarette began to smolder, starting the time delay. "Run! We've got four minutes to get as far away as possible!" Jimmy said while slinging his backpack over his shoulder and running off. The rest of the group followed.


	26. Back to the Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The five kids ran like the devil was chasing them. Cindy, being the most athletic, quickly took the lead. Jimmy, Cindy, and Sheen were right behind her. Carl brought up the rear.

Cindy's eyes hardened as the seconds flew by. Jimmy and the others fell farther and farther behind. They took time to move branches out of their way. Cindy just ran straight through them, ignoring the numerous cuts on her arms and face.

"Cindy!" Jimmy shouted as he picked up his pace, but still unable to catch her.

Cindy ignored the burning in her sides. With each step she took, her stomach twisted and cried out in pain. Cindy simply bit her lip and continued onwards. As the explosion of the batteries reached her ears, she thought back to what had started this whole adventure.

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Cindy lay in her room, twiddling her pencil between her fingers and then tapping it on her desk. It was the first of June, the final month of school. She couldn't help but smile as she thought back to the many memories she had experienced this past year.

Fifth grade had certainly been the most exciting year of her life. Besides the countless adventures she had experienced with Jimmy, Libby, Carl, and Sheen, she grown as a person. Finally she was able to drop the charade of hating Jimmy. There was no denying that they were friends now.

She suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at the blank sheet of paper on her desk. Well, almost blank. All she had put on it was her name, the date, and the title of the assignment.

Ms. Fowl had assigned them what she thought was a fun assignment for the end of the year. Write a poem that says something nice about one of your classmates. Cindy knew she could take the easy way out and write about Libby, even Nick, but she knew that this poem had to be about to Jimmy. They had started the year out as enemies, and this poem would allow them to end it as friends. Sighing, she began to write.

**You're the boy that I love to hate.**

**I thought our feud was the work of fate.**

**I never dreamed that we could be friends.**

**I thought we'd be enemies until the end.**

**I know that sometimes we argue and fight.**

**Even though you're usually right.**

**I guess what I'm trying to say**

**Is that I'm your friend starting today.**

Cindy put down her pencil and read her poem. She smiled a little. "Utter and complete crap," she said while shaking her head. She crumpled the poem up and threw it into her trash can.

"Cynthia! Please come down here for a moment!" her father yelled from the living room downstairs.

_Just what I need, another excuse to procrastinate._ "Be right there!" she shouted while looking across the street. It was almost midnight. She knew that she shouldn't be up this late, especially on a school night. But she couldn't bring herself to give up on the poem just yet.

"Sweety, you might want to sit down," Mr. Vortex said as his daughter strolled into the living room.

"Um, alright," Cindy cautiously said while plopping onto the couch. "What's up?"

"We hate to wake you up, darling, but we felt you should know this now. Your mother and I, we're getting a divorce," he sadly explained.

Cindy looked from her father's sad face to her mother's blank expression. "Uh-huh, sure. Nice try, dad. I'll see you in the morning," she said while nervously laughing. She tried to leave the room, but her father blocked the exit.

"Cindy, I'm not joking. Your mother was, well, she," his voice trailed off.

"Oh just say it! I had an affair!" Cindy's mother angrily shouted. "You just have to blame this whole thing on me! I'm not the one who insisted on working late every night. You just have to stay perfect in front of the girl and let her hate me!"  
"Not in front of Cynthia!" Mr. Vortex angrily told his wife.

"You said that you and Mr. Smith were over," Cindy angrily said. "You told me it was a mistake, and that you would fix it."

"You knew about this?" an astounded Mr. Vortex asked.

"Our bedrooms aren't far apart," Cindy angrily muttered.

"Watch your tongue, little missy!" Mrs. Vortex shouted.

"Why don't you watch who you sleep around with!" Cindy shouted back. She stood in front of her mother and glared at her. "Why do you have to ruin everything? All you care about is yourself! You don't care about dad, and you especially don't care about me. You're just a, a, a slut!" Cindy shouted, not believing what she had just said.

Mrs. Vortex slapped Cindy hard across the face. Cindy fell onto the couch and put a hand to her bleeding lip.

"Don't you dare hit her!" Mr. Vortex shouted while grabbing Mrs. Vortex's wrist.

Cindy's mother threw Mr. Vortex's hand off of her. "Enough beating around the bush. You want this marriage over? Fine! Let's make a clean break!" she said while opening a drawer and pulling out a gun.

"What the hell?" Cindy and her father shouted at the same time.

"Why...what...what are you doing?" Cindy's father asked while raising his hands up in the air.

"Killing you," Mrs. Vortex calmly said.

"Why?" he asked while reaching for a nearby lamp to use as a weapon.

Mrs. Vortex shot her husband's arm. He dropped the lamp. "A million reasons. Here's a few. I want a fresh start. I want a clean break from you. Insurance money. Hell, the thrill of it. Want some more?"

"Just come down, Ana. Don't do something you're going to regret," Mr. Vortex said. "Do you really want to spend the rest of your life in jail for murder?"

Mrs. Vortex laughed. "Obviously you haven't realized the benefits of having a police captain for a boyfriend. I highly doubt they'll think I had anything to do with the murder of our daughter Cindy."

"Say what?" Cindy quietly asked.

Mrs. Vortex shook her head slowly. "So sad. My husband went insane with jealousy after he found out about my affair. He pulled out a gun and tried to kill me. Brave little Cynthia tried to stop him, but my husband here shot her. Overcome with grief for killing his daughter, he turned the gun on himself. And me, well, I'm the traumatized survivor," Mrs. Vortex said with a laugh.

"Like hell you are!" Cindy said while tackling her mother.

Cindy was strong, but her mom was stronger. She threw her daughter to the ground and spun around, emptying a bullet into Mr. Vortex's forehead. "Advantage number two of dating a cop: access to shooting ranges. Excellent target practice."

"Dad?" Cindy said while crawling towards her father's lifeless body. After realizing he was dead, she turned around and faced her mother. "You're insane."

"Maybe," she said with a grin. "But don't worry. You'll meet up with dear old daddy in a moment. Say hi to him for me," she told Cindy while aiming her gun at her daughter.

"No freakin' way," Cindy angrily said while kicking her mother's shin.

Mrs. Vortex dropped the fun and lost her footing for a moment. Cindy ran out of the house and towards the one person she knew would help her.

"Let the games begin," Mrs. Vortex said while getting up and running into the kitchen. She grabbed a large knife off of a rack and headed back into the living room. She scooped up the gun with her other hand and chased after her daughter as Cindy busted down the door to Jimmy's house.

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"She's not going to catch me," Cindy whispered while running through the woods.

**Author's Note: I know this differs slightly from what Cindy told Jimmy. But she probably wouldn't have wanted to go into all of these horrible details.**


	27. First Shift

"Cindy!" Jimmy shouted as he finally got a little closer to Cindy.

"Quiet," Libby warned him. "The cops are still out here."

Cindy continued running as fast as she could, but she was beginning to slow down from fatigue. "Damn it!" she shouted as she tripped over a rock and landed flat on her face.

Libby and Jimmy slid to a stop beside her. Jimmy grabbed her face with her hands. He looked concerned as he viewed the nice gash on her forehead. "You'll be fine. But you've got to be more careful," he quietly said to her.

Sheen and Carl came crawling up to the other three a few seconds later. "You...guys...should be on the track team," Sheen said between breaths. Carl just nodded before collapsing onto his back.

"Seriously, Cindy. You need to be careful. If you get injured, we're as good as dead," Libby said while pulling a rag out of her pocket and holding it to Cindy's head.

"And if I don't run as fast as I can we're worse than dead," Cindy told them.

Jimmy bit his lip before nodding a little. "Point taken." He looked behind him and motioned for the others to be quiet. "I don't hear anybody. We've got to be a good mile away by now. Anyone have any idea how far these woods extend?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Well, we've got to get out of this forest soon. They know we're still in here somewhere."

"Jimmy's right. We've got to get as far away from those guys as possible," Libby said.

Sheen picked his head up. "Can't we rest for a minute?"

Jimmy slung his backpack over his shoulder and shook his head. "We stay here much longer, we'll be resting forever six feet under."

"Six feet under what?" Sheen asked.

Libby gathered her supplies and whispered into his ear. "We'll be dead."

"Oh," Sheen sadly said.

Sheen and Carl gathered the few supplies they had with them. They looked at each other before following their three friends in front of them. "You think we're slowing them down?" Carl asked.

Sheen nodded. "One problem at a time, good buddy."

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Five hours later the sun was nearly set. The five exhausted kids threw their backpacks down and sat down on the dirt.

"How far have we gone?" Cindy said while holding her hand to her head. The bleeding had long stopped, but it still throbbed with pain.

Jimmy took a sip of some water they had found two hours earlier by a stream. Luckily Sheen had had some empty bottles to hold it. "Our walking rate was maybe two hours an hour. Cut that in half because of the difficult terrain. Minus maybe half a mile for the breaks we took. I'd guess four and a half miles."

"So we keep walking in a straight line, right? Eventually we'll have to emerge from the woods," Cindy said.

"Right," Jimmy agreed. He looked up at the sky. "It's almost too dark to see. There's no way we can make any more progress tonight. We can't walk through the woods with flashlights or fire. It will attract attention. We might as well set up camp," Jimmy said while laying down on the ground, using his backpack as a pillow.

"But the cops are probably still looking for us! We're sitting ducks for eight hours!" Cindy told him.

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, we are. I had hoped we'd be out of the woods by now. But there's nothing we can do. Walking through these woods in the dark, it's almost a sure thing one of us will get hurt or worse. Better to make camp."

"Fine," Cindy said. "But we should at least keep a lookout."

Jimmy nodded. "Alright. Take the first shift. Then Libby. I'll take third, then Sheen and Carl will take the last one.. Two hour shifts."

Sheen and Carl popped their heads up. "Hey! How come we have to do it together? Do you guys not trust us to handle it alone?" Sheen angrily asked.

"Yeah," Libby, Cindy, and Jimmy said.

"And I don't think you guys should handle the gun," Jimmy told them.

"Why not? I have great reflexes!" Sheen shouted.

Jimmy picked up a pinecone and lightly tossed it at Sheen's head. It hit him in the face. Two seconds later he lashed out in front of him. "No you don't. You do not handle the gun. Got it?"

"Got it," Sheen sadly said.

"If I'm keeping first watch, can I have the gun?" Cindy asked. Jimmy carefully handed it to her. "Thanks," she said while putting it in the back of her pants.

Everyone started to lay down and go to sleep as Cindy sat on a log twenty feet away, beside a small campfire. It barely illuminated her face. Any larger and it might attract attention. Jimmy got up and took a seat beside her.

"Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," she said while grabbing a long stick. She moved around the few logs in the fire. "You should get some sleep."

Jimmy smiled a little. "Couldn't if I wanted to." He paused a moment while staring at the fire. "Why were you running so fast back there?"

Cindy gave him an odd look. "Because a whole swarm of cops was after us."

Jimmy nodded. "It's more than that. I saw the fear in your eyes. You're never afraid."

Cindy smiled back and grabbed his hand. "Well, I guess there's a first time for everything."

Jimmy became serious. "What will they do to us? If they find us?"

Cindy's eyes hardened as she squeezed Jimmy's hand. "You don't know she's capable of," she said while sliding her hand down her back towards the butt of her gun. She squeezed it.

Twenty feet away, Libby, Carl, and Sheen were lying down on the ground, propping their heads up with their hands. "Think they know we're watching?" Carl asked.

"Nah," Sheen said.

"Well, looks like they finally got together," Libby told them. "That's great," she said with a hint of sadness.

"That's right, I remembered. You owe me twenty bucks," Sheen said with a grin. "Pay up."


	28. Breakfast

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters. The same goes for last chapter, since I forgot to put a disclaimer for that one.**

Jimmy woke up the next morning in front of the fire. He looked down and saw a collapsed Cindy lying across his lap. _So much for the keeping watch thing._ Jimmy carefully stood up, trying not to wake Cindy.

As he walked off a little into the woods to answer nature's call, he looked to his right. He smiled a little. "Huh," was all he could say as he smiled. With the sun rising, he could see some building less than a mile off.

After he had taken care of business, he began to walk back to camp. He froze as a twig snapped behind him.

Jimmy nervously glanced behind him, but he didn't see anything. But he heard another twig snap. His heart pounding, he turned around once again.

"Boo!" Libby whispered as he looked right into her face.

Jimmy took a couple of steps backward and clutched his heart. "Don't do that!" he whispered back.

Libby chuckled a little. She took off her backpack and pulled a piece of fruit out of the front pocket. She took a seat on a small rock. Jimmy sighed and sat across from her. Libby dug into her jean's pocket and pulled out a small, smooth kitchen knife.

"Where'd you get that?" Jimmy nervously asked.

Libby looked up at him. "Your parents. Snagged it while we got some of your hair. Figured we might need it after Cindy's mom tried to kill me," she told him while slicing the apple down the middle. "Catch," she said while tossing one half to him.

Jimmy caught it and stared down at it as Libby twirled the knife in her hands before tucking it back in her pocket. She held up her half of the apple. "Cheers," she said before taking a bite.

"Yeah, cheers," Jimmy said before eating a small piece. "Since when are you guys army commandos?"

Libby laughed a little. "Excuse me?"

Jimmy shook his head. "You twirling that knife, and Cindy works that gun pretty darn well. Am I the only fifth grader in the world who can't handle a weapon?"

Libby smiled. "We're sixth graders now. This would have been our last week of school."

"I'm serious," Jimmy said while taking another bite out of his apple.

Libby sighed. "I can't speak for Cindy, but after running away from that nut job for," she paused to count her fingers. "Six days, you learn how to handle a knife pretty well."

"You stabbed someone?" Jimmy asked incredulously.

Libby shook her head. "But fruit can be pretty damn quick. Gotta slice before they run away," she said with a grin. "It never hurts to be prepared," she said, her tone serious now.

Jimmy nodded as he finished the fruit. He tossed the core into the woods. Libby did the same. "So, ready to compare those notes?" Libby asked.

Jimmy smiled. Might as well. "What have you been up to since that morning?"

Libby leaned back and closed her eyes for a moment. "I told you the gist of it. Once we got the tracker, we realized that you were on some highway. We hopped a bus and tried to get there. We got a little off track when mother dearest's boy toy noticed us. That's why it took us so long to find you guys. I gotta tell you, evading cops isn't as easy as it is on TV."

"Aint't that the truth," Jimmy said with a small laugh.

"What about you two?" Libby asked.

"Same as you guys. Run from the cops and try to survive," Jimmy said.

Libby smiled. "What _were_ you two doing that morning before Sheen's little rocket crash landed?"

"We were doing the thing..."

"At the place for the reason," Libby tiredly said. "Yeah, I've already heard that magical tale. Seriously, why were you two having breakfast together?"

"We were hungry," Jimmy told her.

Libby nodded, a little hurt that he wouldn't tell her. "So now what?"

Jimmy pointed to the buildings on the horizon. "After everyone wakes up, we head there."

Libby gave a small nod. "Yeah, that will do for a day. And then we'll head to another town and spend a night there. And then twelve hours in Kansas, and two days in Colorado. That's all fine and good, but I've got to tell you something, Jimmy," Libby said. She sounded a little angry.

"Cindy's like my sister. And I would do anything for her. And you, for that matter. But this is starting to irritate me. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life running from cops and some homicidal mother. I had other plans for summer vacation. So what's your plan?"

Jimmy was a little shocked. "Why does everyone assume I always have a plan?"

"Because you always do," Libby told him. "So spill it."

"I don't have one!" Jimmy shouted, nearly waking the others.

Libby stared at him. Her face fell. "Well, that sucks then."

"You're telling me," Jimmy said while burying his head in his hands. "The fact is, we're outnumbered, outgunned, and just plain outmatched. Our only shot right now is to keep running."

Libby stared at him. "Jimmy, you're never outmatched. You..._we've_ been in situations a lot worse than this. The five of us are together now, and can do anything if we believe we can."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jimmy said. "And why don't we go round up some magical fairies and sing a song? And then we can invite Mrs. Vortex on a picnic! And we'll all have a good laugh and become great friends? Get real, Libby! I can't just magically come up with a plan! I've got nothing?"

Libby glared at him. "You've got nothing?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"You've got nothing?" Libby asked again.

"I don't have anything!" Jimmy nearly shouted.

Libby stood up. "You've got everything! Now stop sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. I don't know how your brain works, but use it! I'm sorry, Jimmy. I don't know why you're feeling sorry for yourself and can't think up anything. We all have bad days. But we need you here!"

Jimmy jumped up and looked up at her, trying to stare in her eyes. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Focus! Think! I don't know!" Libby spun around and rubbed her forehead. She took a deep breath and sat down beside Jimmy, who also took a seat.

"Just think, big brain. We don't give you that nickname for nothing," she said before walking back to camp.


	29. Ambush

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy and the others began their march through the woods, heading for the town on the horizon. Jimmy guessed it would take about three hours to get there. He hoped that they wouldn't be found by the cops by then.

Jimmy was in front of the group. Sheen was behind him, followed by Carl. Libby was fourth, keeping her right hand wrapped around the pepper spray in her pocket. Cindy brought up the rear, the gun clenched in both hands. She continuously spun around and walked backwards, swiveling the gun from side to side.

"Careful with that," Jimmy angrily whispered. "These are public woods. Not everyone in here is going to be a cop. And the last thing we need is a murder on our hands."

Cindy clenched her teeth. "You want to handle the gun? We all know how good you were with it last time."

Jimmy took a deep breath to calm her anger. He bent down and grabbed a long, thick stick. He pulled the knife that Libby had used to cut their breakfast earlier out of his pocket. He began to sharpen his new walking stick into a spear.

Eventually, the five children burst out onto the outskirts of town. They all collapsed as the tall buildings lay less than a mile in front of them. After a moment of resting Jimmy pulled himself up.

"We better keep going. No telling if the cops are right behind us," Jimmy told them

Sheen nodded and clasped Libby's hand. He pulled her up next to him, while Carl slowly got up as well. They began walking ahead while Jimmy and Cindy lay on the ground. They looked at each other.

"Nice stick," Cindy said, referring to Jimmy's new spear.

Jimmy smiled. "I like it."

Cindy wiped her sweat-plastered hair from her forehead. Jimmy grabbed her hand and helped pull her up.

As Jimmy began to walk away, Cindy pulled him back towards her. She grabbed his cheeks with her right hand.

"Are you going to kiss me?" A somewhat dazed Jimmy asked.

Cindy smiled. She turned his face to her left. "No. But you've got a couple of whiskers growing."

"Really?" Jimmy asked. Cindy nodded. "Well, guess up grow up fast when you live a life like this."

"You guys coming?" Libby asked while turning around.

Cindy let go of Jimmy's face. "Yeah. Right behind ya."

"Good. Let's get a move on," Libby told them while walking up the small hill that led to the city.

Jimmy tossed his walking stick up in the air a little and got a new grip on it. He grabbed Cindy's hand and led her up the hill, jogging a little to catch up with the others.

"So now what?" Sheen asked as they neared the top of the hill.

"I think I know what we should do. We've got to," Jimmy began to explain as they reached the top of the hill. He suddenly stopped talking and froze as they looked ahead.

"Howdy kids. Remember me?" Captain Smith shouted from thirty yards in front of them. Three cop cars were parked beside him. Four other officers were with him, hiding behind the cars' open doors.

Nobody moved for a moment. Then Jimmy suddenly snapped back into action. "Run!" he shouted while spinning around and dashing back down the hill.

"Halt!" one of the other officers shouted. Captain Smith didn't waste time shouting. As soon as the kids began to flee, he was authorized to use force. He raised his weapon and fired two rounds at Libby.

Jimmy and Cindy spun around as they heard Libby's shouts of pain. She fell to the ground, a small puddle of blood near her stomach slowly growing. Her eyes closed as she fell to the ground. They would have stayed to help her, but Captain Smith had his gun aimed at them next.


	30. Revenge

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Libby," Cindy moaned as Jimmy pulled her down to the ground. They began to roll down the cement hill.

"Are you insane?" one of Captain Smith's fellow officers asked as he ran ahead and knelt down beside Libby. He felt for a pulse, and his distressed face eased a little. He whipped out his radio. "We have a child down on East Twelfth Street. Critical condition. Ambulance needed immediately. Over."

"The handbook says police officers are allowed to fire at fleeing fugitives. Stay with the girl. Make sure she pulls through." _She could have some useful information_. "The rest of you purse the subjects on foot. Move!" The other officers hesitated. "That's an order!"

Jimmy and Cindy smacked into the pole of a stop sign. Well, Jimmy did. Cindy lay protected in his arms in front of him. Ignoring the searing pain in his back, he jumped up. Carl and Sheen rushed over to him. Cindy quickly pulled herself up as well. "Split up and don't you dare let them get you." He took out his pen laser and set it to the highest setting. He then tossed it to Sheen. "Run!" he shouted while running straight ahead.

Sheen nodded as he ran to the west. Carl ran east. Cindy stayed where she was, fire burning in her eyes. She whipped out her gun and cocked it.

The four cops ran over the hill. "Split up! Tail the kids!" Captain Smith shouted as he ran after Cindy.

"Holster your weapon, captain!" Officer Sanchez yelled to his superior. "Holster it!"

Captain Smith reluctantly put his gun back in its holster in order to keep up appearances.

Jimmy could hear the footsteps closing in on him. Risking a quick look behind him, he noticed that Cindy and Captain Smith were nearly dots. A policeman was ten feet behind him.

Jimmy abruptly stopped and spun around. He tightened his grip on his spear and scowled at the cop. "You killed my friend!"

The cop moved back a couple of feet. _Easy. He's just a kid._ "My captain was wrong. I'm not going to shoot you. Now put that thing down."

Jimmy screamed as he swung the heavy stick at the policeman's face. The man ducked and jumped backwards. "You killed her!"

The cop bit his lip, not knowing what to do. This kid meant business, but he wasn't prepared to shoot him. He reached for his pepper spray. "Calm down."

Jimmy's eyes darted to the man's hand reaching towards his belt. His eyes ablaze with hatred, he thrust the spear at the officer's hand. "Like Hell!"

The officer shouted in agony as the wooden weapon pierced through his right hand's flesh. Jimmy twisted the weapon around before pulling it out.

"I warned you!" the officer shouted while smacking Jimmy across the face with his good hand. As Jimmy fell to the ground, he reached for his pepper spray.

Jimmy rolled to the side as the officer let loose a stream of the burning mist. He swung his stick as hard as he could at the man's ankles. The officer fell to the ground. Jimmy jumped up and slammed his spear horizontally into the man's face, breaking his nose and nearly knocking the man out.

Jimmy knelt down and grabbed the cop's gun out of his holster. He put it in his pocket. He raised his spear and stared at the man's face. "Cindy said she warned you guys to stop following us. You should have listened!" he shouted while slamming the spear down as hard as he could into the officer's right leg. "Now stay down!"

Cindy's sneer deepened as Captain Smith approached her. She couldn't believe his weapon was holstered. "You killer her!" she shouted while emptying a bullet into his chest.

The man fell to the ground, a few dots of blood on his shirt. Cindy walked over to him and aimed the gun at his face. _He's wearing a vest._

"Wait!" the man shouted while raising his hands. Cindy showed no signs of stopping. "Or the girl will die!"

Cindy faltered a little, but quickly tightened her grip on the trigger. "And me keeping you alive will protect Libby? Bull. You shot her. She's dead."

Captain Smith shook his head. "She's in critical condition. Me, you may not believe it, but I'm the voice of reason in this thing. Your mom will want to kill her. I might be able to convince her to let her live. So we can question her."

Cindy thought of her mother, chasing her across the street with a pistol, shooting down Jimmy's rocket. She didn't doubt for a second that she would kill Libby. She lowered her gun slightly.

"You better pray to God she lives."

Captain Smith flashed his crooked smile. "Lizzy will be fine."

Cindy's anger rushed back. "It's _Libby_!" she shouted while slamming the gun as hard as she could into the man's face. She heard a sickening _crack_ as his nose shattered. _He'll live_.


	31. Regroup

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Although they had started off running in opposite directions, Carl and Sheen soon ended up nearly running into each other after a moment. They could see Jimmy slamming his spear into a cop's leg about twenty yards in front of them. Two cops were closing in on them.

"What do we do?" Carl nervously asked, trying to rid the image of a blood-stained Libby out of his mind.

Sheen tightened his grip on the small laser in his hand. "We fight!"

The two cops stood in front of the kids. Their hands rested on their gun holsters. Sheen closed his eyes and focused. _What would Jimmy do? _After what seemed like an eternity to Carl, Sheen shoved the laser in his back pocket and raised his hands.

"Alright, I surrender," Sheen said.

"Yay! It's over!" Carl shouted as the two cops handcuffed Sheen's hands behind his back.

"You have the right to remain silent," an officer said while closing the two steel circles around Sheen's wrists. "You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you..."

The cop's words appeared jumbled to Sheen as he slowly moved his hands behind his back. He carefully pulled the laser out of his pocket. Silently, he pressed the button that activated the device. The red beam easily sliced through the metal that trapped his hands.

"Do you understand these right as I have explained them to you?" the officer said while walking Sheen back up the hill.

"You killed my girlfriend!" Sheen angrily shouted while whipping his right hand around. The trailing chain of the broken handcuffs smacked the officer hard across the face. As the man stumbled backwards, Sheen jumped forward and ripped the gun out of the officer's holster.

Sheen spun around and emptied a bullet into the officer's leg. As his victim fell and the officer manning Carl turned to face him, he fired three quick shots at Carl's assailant. The officer fell down, clutching his knee. Sheen aimed his gun back at the fallen cop beside him.

"Grab his gun!" Sheen shouted to Carl.

Carl just stood there as the officer slowly regained his footing. Sheen was in no position to help. He was ten yards away and on the ground due to the gun's recoil. The force emitted by the gun felt like he had been hit by a car.

The officer finally got back up to his feet and hobbled towards Carl. He pulled out his gun. Just then Jimmy ran up behind the cop and smacked him hard across the back of the head with his spear. The man's skull cracked as he fell to the ground. Jimmy smashed his spear into the officer's hand, breaking the cop's wrist and making him release the gun. Jimmy bent down and picked it up.

"You guys alright?" Jimmy asked as he put the gun in one of his pockets. He now had two pistols. Sheen held onto his tightly.

"Yeah," Sheen mumbled. A somewhat dazed Cindy walked up to them.

"All the cops taken care of?" she tiredly asked.

Everyone turned their attention to the still conscious cop that lay near Sheen. The cop's face hardened.

"Go ahead and shoot," he dared.

Cindy pushed the others aside and walked over to him. "I've already told you guys again. I am _not_ a murderer," she said while cracking the butt of her pistol against his forehead. The man 's eyes suddenly closed as a trickle of blood flowed from his head.

The four kids took a deep breath. For a moment, the madness that surrounded them could be ignored. For a moment, the threat was gone. But just for a moment. No sooner had they taken another breath then the sound of sirens wailed in the distance."

"Cops?" Sheen asked, his eyes narrowed in hatred.

"Or an amublance for Libby," Cindy told them.

"Or both," Jimmy said. They all looked at each other.

"We've got to get out of here," Sheen nervously told them.

"Where do we go?" Carl asked.

"We can't go to the city. I think there's still a cop up there with Libby. Back in the woods. We'll get out of there and be in another town by nightfall," Jimmy explained.

"Then let's move," Cindy said while running towards the thick forest. The three others followed.


	32. Surveying the Damage

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Officer Mandel breathed a sigh of relief as the ambulances pulled up. He looked down at the bleeding girl cradled in her arms. Her breathing was labored and raspy. He was seriously concerned about the amount of blood she had lost. _Captain Smith will be lucky if he keeps his badge after this._

Officer Mandel relinquished his hold on Libby as two men dressed in white rolled a stretcher up to him. Mandel turned around and rubbed his temple. "What the Hell is going on?" he whispered to himself. In all of his fifteen years on the force, he had never seen a fellow cop shoot a preteen.

He opened his eyes and walked to the edge of the hill, for the first time remembering the rest of his squad. His eyes nearly popped out of his sockets due to the shock of what he saw below him. His three fellow officers and Captain Smith were on the ground. They were laying in puddles of blood. All were unconscious except Captain Smith, who was beginning to come to.

"Over here!" he shouted back to the paramedics while waving them over. They looked down in horror, but quickly sprung into action. They went first to the cop that Jimmy had taken care of. Mandel saw them request fellow ambulances into their radios.

Mandel ran down the hill to his captain, who was applying pressure to his bleeding and broken nose. As soon as he approached his captain, the injured man grabbed his collar and pulled him down to his face.

"Find that little bitch," he whispered.

"What happened?" Mandel questioned.

Captain Smith took a look around and noticed that his fellow officers were also hurt. A flicker of sorrow crossed his face, but rage soon replaced it. "Now do you see why I shot that little piece of shit?"

Officer Mandel glanced back to the ambulance that held Libby. He quickly refocused hit attention back to his captain. "Those kids did this?"

"Find them," Smith repeated. He then passed out again.

Mandel surveyed the scene another time before stroking his goatee. _What to do, what to do_. He still couldn't believe that four kids had been able to take down four trained cops, one of them a captain.

Mandel noticed something as he looked at Smith again. He didn't just have a broken nose, he had been shot. Luckily, his bulletproof vest had protected him. But that meant the kids were armed.

"Officer!" one of the paramedics shouted. Mandel ran over to the two men. "Look at the mens' belts." Mandel looked at the three men on stretchers. "Their holsters are empty."

Officer Mandel turned around and began pacing. _What does this mean? Four kids with at least three guns? Alright, think. What do I do?_ Almost immediately, Mandel realized that he had never called for backup. He whipped out his radio and notified the station about what had happened.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Officer Mandel was surrounded by two captains and five cops. They had just arrived at the scene. He finished filling them in on the situation. "So to sum it up, they're four kids with at least three guns. And they nearly killed four cops."

"These are the kids we've been looking for for a week?" a female officer asked.

"Yeah. Guess we kind of underestimated them," Mandel sadly said.

"Well, which way did they go?" another police man asked.

"They must have gone into the woods," Mandel told them.

"Well let's go get them then!"

Mandel shook his head. "These are no ordinary kids. One of them is legally a genius. They're not above shooting cops. And the last time we followed them in the woods, they got away by building a bomb. They built a bomb. That tells us they're good. We need to go back to the station and regroup. Get a plan. They've already got a huge head start in the woods. We're not going to get them in there. It's too easy to hide. They're probably going to emerge back in the city they left from. We'll set up officers there and all around the wood's edge."

One of the captains present nodded his head. "He's right. We're treating these guys as dangerous adults from now on. Get back to the base and figure out a plan. If we surround the border of the woods, there's no way they can escape. If we go into the woods, we'll just lose more men."

The group of police officers agreed with their superior. Mandel watched as the ambulance that held Captain Smith speeded away. _Don't worry, sir. We'll get them. _


	33. We'll Get Him

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The orange flames reflected off of Jimmy's eyes. Nobody said anything as they sat around the small campfire that night. Jimmy took a long stick and gently shoved some of the fiery logs around. His eyes briefly lifted upwards as the embers rose into the sky, disappearing as quickly as they had come.

Nobody was in any mood to talk. They had nearly killed four people, and Libby was almost certainly dead. After thinking about what Captain Smith had said, Cindy had come to the conclusion that he had lied. He wasn't going to protect Libby from her mother. She was already dead. She saw her get shot in the stomach, watched the blood pour from the wound.

Jimmy continued staring at the fire, watching another log turn black as the fire enveloped it. He put down his poking stick and looked to his right. His spear lay stuck straight up in the ground. It was about four feet tall. He pulled it out of the earth and grabbed a rag from his backpack. He began cleaning the blood off of the tip of the weapon.

Sheen also sat in silence, staring straight into the fire. It was the closest thing they had to a TV out here. At least that's what he told himself. He tried to imagine Ultralord fighting in the flames, but his mind kept racing back to Libby. The only girl that he had even remotely cared about was dead.

He looked down at the gun in his hands. Jimmy and Cindy had noticed that he had taken it off the cop, but hadn't said anything. Apparently they trusted him enough to use it now. Unfortunately, he didn't trust himself.

He rolled it over, then held it up. Carefully, he pressed the magazine catch and watched as the magazine of ammo fell into his lap. He pulled back the slide, his eyes following the single bullet that fell out of the chamber onto the ground. He set the gun down and twirled the magazine in his fingers for a moment. He put it in his pocket. He put the single bullet back into the gun. That was all he needed for now.

Carl looked on uneasily at his three friends. Jimmy was wiping the blood off of his spear like it was nothing. Sheen was playing with a gun. And Cindy was staring into the fire with a look of hatred on her face.

"What do we do now?" he finally asked.

"We kill him," Sheen said.

"Agreed," Cindy added. She took her gun out as well. "We'll make him pay."

Jimmy slammed his spear back into the ground. He still was uneasy carrying two guns in the back waistband of his pants. He had always dreamed of becoming a secret agent, taking out various bad guys with one well placed judo chop. Now that he was partially living that life, all he wanted to do was get back home and hide in his lab. He never wanted to see the damage a bullet could do again.

"We'll round back and put a bullet in his brain," Cindy seethed while Jimmy was thinking.

"We'll take out all the cops if they try to stop us," Sheen added.

Jimmy finally shook himself out of his thoughts. "Give me the guns," he sadly told them.

"What?" Cindy asked, not completely hearing him.

"Just for a second," Jimmy added. Sheen and Cindy handed them their guns. "Would you look at you two? You want to just go back there and blow a guy's brains out?" he softly asked.

"He killed my best friend!" Cindy shouted.

"And my girlfriend!" Sheen yelled. "Did you care about her at all?"

Jimmy stood up and looked down at them. "Of course I did. But what good would killing him do?"

"It'd make us feel a hell of a lot better," Cindy angrily told him.

"What are you going to do? Walk back up to them, raise your gun, and pop a round into him? You think the other cops will just stand back and watch?"

Sheen stood up, now towering above Jimmy by a couple of inches. "If we die, we die. But he's not getting away with this." Cindy nodded her approval of his reasoning.

Jimmy's gaze hardened. "Is that what you want? To go back there and shoot a man in the back while he's not looking? Do you know how you feel right now? Pretty crappy, right? Well that's how the whole police force and Smithy's family will feel. They don't know he's the bad guy.

And if he comes after us, yeah, I won't hesitate to kill him. He's dangerous, and I have to look out for myself. But no way am I going back there and just shooting him. Nobody's that cold. And I don't know about you guys, but I'm a little freaked out by these things," Jimmy continued while holding up one of the guns.

"You saw what one of these bastards did to Libby. You want to do that to Smith? You want to use one of these when you don't have to? You want to become the bad guy?" Jimmy paused a moment to catch his breath.

"We're not guilty of anything yet. But you go back there and kill that guy, things change. You deserve to be caught. I loved Libby just as much as you guys, you know that. But her death will not make me a killer. So go ahead and shoot the cop, I don't care. It's your choice," he said while angrily tossing the two guns onto the ground.

Sheen and Cindy stared down at the two pistols that lay at their feet. They looked at each other for a moment before turning their attention back to Jimmy, who stared at them both in a way that made them cringe.

All the things Sheen had experienced in the past few hours came rushing back to Sheen. He finally broke down and started to cry. He fell down and sat on a log, hugging his knees, wiping his nose across his hand. He grabbed his gun and put it in his pocket.

"I loved her," he said while wiping the tears from his eyes. "He just...killed her. Like it was nothing."

Cindy wiped the tear forming in her right eye. She sat down next to Sheen and put a hand on his shoulder, but she couldn't think of anything to say. Jimmy bent down and grabbed Cindy's gun. He then kneeled in front of Sheen.

"That's what makes us different, Sheen. We care. Libby wouldn't have wanted you act like that monster. But we'll get him. Somehow, someday, we'll get that son of a bitch," Jimmy said, spitting out those last words like a snake does venom.

He then turned to Cindy, the gun dangling from his hand. He brushed her beautiful golden hair out of the way from her left eye. He was a little surprised to see a small trickle of tears rush down her cheek.

He held the gun out to her. "We'll get him," he repeated as she took the gun out of his hand and tucked it away. "Just not now," he sadly explained to her.

She nodded as Jimmy's warm arms embraced her. She shuddered a little as the final tears rolled down her face, dripping off her chin. She could taste the salt on her lips. "Promise we'll get him?"

Jimmy broke the hug and grabbed her shoulders. The most serious expression that Cindy had ever seen was etched onto his face. "I swear it."


	34. Awakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Her eyes opened just as the policeman pushed the curtains open. Her pupils contracted as the bright rays of the sun penetrated her eyelids for the first time since yesterday.

Her beautiful brown eyes darted around the room, not knowing where she was. She tried to lift her head, but cried out in pain.

"Ms. Folfax?" the officer asked while running over to her. "Can you hear me?"

The events of yesterday came rushing back to her and hit her like a freight train. The woods, the cops, a loud _pop_. "Yeah," she whispered.

The officer kneeled down on the floor and came closer so that he could hear her. "Do you remember what happened?"

Libby's normally joyous eyes hardened. "Yeah. You guys got good aim."

The policeman frowned. "We're um...very sorry about that."

"I'll bet you are," she muttered underneath her breath.

Very slowly, she adjusted her head to get a better look at the man looking at her. He seemed familiar. "Who are you?" she croaked out.

The man smiled a little. "I'm, uh, officer Mandel. I was there when you got shot."

Libby's gaze hardened. "Is Jimmy alright?"

The officer looked back at her, his own stare hardening. "He's still loose. I don't suppose you want to tell us where he is?"

Libby met his gaze. "I don't suppose you want to explain why you shot me when I was just standing there?"

Officer Mandel couldn't help but smile a little. He admired this girl's strength. But her friends had still nearly killed his captain. A witty remark wasn't going to change that.

"Let's just start at the beginning. Ms. Elizabeth Folfax, you're under arrest for assisting a fugitive, assault, fleeing a police officer, illegal posession of a weapon, trespassing, theft, truancy, illegal construction of an explosive device, illegal detonation of said explosive device, among other things. I've read your parents your rights, I doubt you would remember them in your current state."

Libby cracked a smile. "That's quite a list."

Officer Mandel pulled up a chair and sat beside her. Libby got a good look at him. About six feet tall, he was handsome enough. He looked like he was in his late twenties, but his eyes held a lifetime of sorrow. She guessed that his years as a cop had hardened him.

She then got a good look at herself. She cringed at all of the tubes sticking out of her body. For the first time, she noticed the constant beeping of the machines by her bedside. She didn't appreciate the tube of blood flowing into her arm.

"You feel like talking?" Officer Mandel asked.

Libby thought for a moment. "I don't really have a choice, no do I?"

Mandel ignored her remark and took out a notepad. "Why did you assault Mrs. Vortex that day?"

Libby looked straight at him. "She attacked me."

Mandel chuckled. "Ok, sure. You want to play games, Elisabeth? We took a look at the crime scene, heard Mrs. Vortex's testimony. We know for a fact you assaulted her. Why did you do it?"

"Why did you shoot me?" she asked again.

"I didn't shoot you."

"You certainly didn't stop the guy who did."

"You had fleed the cops before, you and your partners are considered armed and dangerous. I don't suppose you heard what your little pals did to my squad?" Libby didn't say anything. "I didn't think so. Why did you do it?"

"I want a lawyer."

"You're going to need one."

"So will you. Cop shooting an innocent little kid. The media will eat this up," Libby defiantly told him.

Mandel bent down in her face. "You and your friends tried to kill my partner."

"My friends think you did the same thing," Libby told him.

They stared at each other for a moment longer before a nurse came in. Excited to see that Libby was awake, she went to fetch a doctor. Mandel finally backed away from her.

"I'll see you later, Ms. Folfax," he said while exiting the room.

Libby sighed as she her head collapsed into her pillow. _Yeah, a lawyer might not be such a bad idea._


	35. Welcome, Mr Davidson

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

That afternoon Libby was still lying down on her bed. A soft knocking came from outside her room. "Come in," she said while opening her eyes.

A man in his early thirties entered. He was dressed in a fancy suit and tie, carrying a briefcase in his right hand. He calmly entered the room and took a seat next to the bed. "Ms. Folfax, I'm Mr. Davidson. Your parents were unable to afford a lawyer, so I am the district attorney provided to you."

Libby looked at him. "That was oddly fast."

Mr. Davidson chuckled. "Well this is a very odd case. A girl murders her father and hides the body. She gets her rival, friend, whatever, to help her. The cops think the dad kidnapped them. Later the cops think they killed the dad was murdered in self-defense, and now the cops think it was just murder. Meanwhile, you and two boys assault the mother and take off to God knows where. Now we've got five kids running around stealing cars, making bombs, and beating up cops.Do youknow where this story ends?"

"Me getting shot?" Libby asked.

"Bingo," the man said. "So, Elizabeth..."

"Libby," she corrected.

"Alright, Libby. Why did you assault Mrs. Vortex?"

Libby glared at him. "She attacked me! She's behind the whole thing!"

Davidson chuckled. "Alright, sure. The evidence is against you, Libby. We can't do the whole _I'm innocent _thing. You're best shot at this point is a plea bargain. You understand?"

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Libby shouted, earning her an odd look from a nurse passing by the room. Davidson got up and closed the door.

"Alright, then what really happened?" he asked her.

"You want to know what happened? I hear that Jimmy and Cindy are kidnapped. So I go to Mrs. Vortex's house to comfort her," she began to explain. For the next half hour she recounted every possible detail she remembered from the past week. When she was done, she took a deep breath and collapsed onto her pillow, completely worn out. After a moment of silence, she looked up at Mr. Davidson.

He was studying her, staring at her. She couldn't tell if he believed her or not, but she decided not to get her hopes up. "Why didn't you just go to the cops, if what you say is true?" the man asked.

Libby sighed and stared at him like he was an idiot. "Cindy's note said not to trust the cops."

Mr. Davidson stood up from his chair and started to pace the room. "How did you know that Mrs. Vortex was attacking you? After you read the note aloud?"

Libby's huge eyes held hope. "Are you saying you believe me?"

Davidson moved his chair closer to her bed and sat facing her. Their faces were barely a foot apart. "Not the whole thing. The fact remains that your friends, Jimmy and Cindy, committed murder. But you, you trusted your friends. Believed the note they left."

"My friends aren't murderers. Besides, why would they leave a note." Libby paused for a moment. She was getting a headache, and it wasn't from her injuries. "I'm confused. What the heck do you think is going on?"

Mr. Davidson stood back up and started pacing around again. "Your friends, uh, Jimmy and Cindy, murdered Mr. Vortex. Or maybe just Cindy did and Jimmy helped her escape, I don't know. At any rate, they hide the body and leave that fake note for you that says Cindy's mom's gone psycho. They run away, you see the note, believe it, and try to do the right thing. Maybe they left you the note so you would help them, thinking they were innocent."

Libby closed her eyes and thought about what he had said. _Jimmy and Cindy couldn't be murderers. Could they?_ She thought back to Jimmy had mentioned how good Cindy was with a gun, and how Cindy had wanted to shoot at the cops right after the five of them had reunited. _I don't know, she does have a violent streak._

Libby shook her head. "This is ridiculous. Cindy and Jimmy are the good guys. CIndy's mom killed Mr. Vortex, not Cindy. And that Captain Smith is a dirty cop."

Mr. Davidson turned around and looked at Libby once again. "Captain Smith is not a dirty cop. The Retroville Police Department says he's one of their best men."

"Then why didn't he hesitate to pop two bullets into me?" Libby angrily asked.

Davidson sat down in his chair and rubbed his temple. "I don't know. God, I'm getting a little confused myself."

Libby stared at him. "He's going to kill my friends. If he doesn't, then Mrs. Vortex will. We've got to help them."

Davidson laughed a little. "It is my job to believe your stor, Mrs. Folfax. But the facts still stand that you're friends committed murder."

"And you're telling me that there has never been a case in the history of the world that contained a dirty cop trying to frame someone?"

Davidson shook his head. "I'm here to defend you, not them. I have other cases to handle right now, and you have a few people that want to speak to you."

Libby's eyes lit up. "My parents?"

Davidson nodded. "And the parents of your friends. You have a long day ahead of you, Elizabeth. Good day," he said while taking his briefcase and leaving the room.


	36. A Plan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The four remaining kids sat around the smoldering campfire that afternoon. Cindy and Sheen sat next to each other, staring at Jimmy. Carl was twiddling his thumbs, wondering how he always got himself into these messes. Jimmy sat staring at the ground, sucking on the pit of a peach. He didn't have to look up to see Cindy and Sheen's cold gaze on him.

Jimmy spit the pit into the firepit and took out his gun. He rolled it over in his hands and felt the cold metal with his trembling fingers. He still refused to look at Cindy and Sheen.

Finally, Carl couldn't take any more. "I can't take it any more! I'm turning myself in!" he shouted while jumping up.

Jimmy allowed his eyes to turn upwards. He gazed at Carl thoughtfully while Cindy and Sheen started to yell at him.

"Are you crazy?" Cindy shouted. "After all of this, you're just going to walk over there and turn yourself in?"

Sheen jumped up and stared down at his friend. "You saw what those creeps did to Libby. You think they're just going to let you walk up to them? That Smith dude will shoot you dead before you get ten feet!"

"Jimmy, tell him he's being ridiculous!" Cindy said while turning to Jimmy for help.

"Yeah! Tell him!" Sheen said while also staring at Jimmy.

Jimmy put his gun back in the back of his waistband and stood up. He smiled slightly as he stared at his friends. "Carl should turn himself in."

Cindy and Sheen looked at each other. Sheen held up his hand. "I'll say it." He turned towards Jimmy. "Are you insane!"

Jimmy shook his head. "The cops know we fled into the woods. They also know we nearly killed four of their men. We haven't heard any sign of them in nearly twenty-four hours. That means they're not looking for us here. If they're not looking for us, they're waiting for us. That means they've circled the woods. They're waiting for us to exit the forest so they can ambush us again."

Cindy smiled a little as she realized his logic. "So you're saying that we send out Carl as a decoy? They get distracted while us three circle back and exit a different way?"

Sheen elbowed Carl. "Do you _ever_ get their plans?" Carl shook his head.

"Close," Jimmy said as he walked closer to Cindy. "These guys know the two of us are geniuses. They know we might try to trick them. That's why we've got to get more creative," he said with a smile.

He turned towards Sheen and pointed at the gun sticking out of his friend's pocket. "You know how to use that?"

"Yeah," Sheen said with a smile.

"Are you afraid of blood?"

Sheen thought back to Libby's red-stained shirt that he had seen yesterday. He bit his lip and shook the image out of his head. "Nope."

Jimmy smiled wider and grabbed Sheen's shoulder. "Time for you to play the hero, Sheen." Sheen smiledwider thanhe ever had in his life.


	37. Homecoming

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Can we really afford to use up half our force's men for this?" a cop asked his superior officer while waiting behind his car's open, bulletproof door. It was parked a hundred yards from the woods.

The captain threw down his cigarette and stomped on it a few times. "Obviously you haven't heard how dangerous these kids are."

The policeman seemed shocked. "They're just kids?"

The captain whipped off his sunglasses and stared at his subordinate. "Rookie, were you even briefed on this before you came out here?"

The cop shook his head. "They said there was no time, that you would fill me in."

The captain sighed and shook his head. "Ugh. How many times do I have to tell this story?"

Luckily for the captain, he was abuptly halted from retelling this tragic tale yet again. A clear gunshot rang out from the woods. He and the rookie spun around, as did the two other officers nearby.

"Don't!" a voice rang out from the forest. The officers had to strain their ears to hear it.

"She tried to kill you! What do you care?" another voice shouted from deep in the forest. Another gunshot rang out.

The captain and rookie looked at each other for a second before pulling out their guns. They waited several moments, their aim centered at the borderline of the forest.

A moment later Sheen walked out of the woods with his hands held up high, a gun in one of them. He smiled widely as he walked forward. He was covered in blood. Carl followed him, his hands also in the air. He was trembling and looked terrified to his soul. His hands were covered in blood.

"Put down your weapon!" The captain shouted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How are you, dear?" Mrs. Neutron asked as she sat down on a chair beside Libby. A cop was in the corner of the room, reading a newspaper. Every few minutes he glanced his head up to look at Libby.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Neutron. Well, considering," Libby said while making an effort to crack a smile. It hurt her to look at Mrs. Neutron. Her parents had been furious, scared her more than getting shot, but they also had looked relieved to see that she was alive. Mrs. Neutron's face was plagued with worry for her son, as was Mr. Vortex's, who sat beside his wife.

"That's good," Mr. Neutron quietly said. "Is Jimbo..." his voice trailed off.

Libby reached out her hand and patted Mrs. Neutron's leg. "Last time I saw him, he was fine. So were Cindy, Sheen, and Carl."

Mrs. Neutron smiled a little, a week's worth of fear erased. "Thank you."

"And he's innocent," Libby added.

Mrs. Neutron looked over at her smiling husband. "We know."

The cop laughed a little, but stopped as the three other residents of the room glared at him.

"Jimmy's inventions have made quite a bit of money. We're buying the best lawyers for him and all of you kids. If they find him," Mr. Neutron told Libby.

Libby looked up at them. "Do you want them to get caught?"

Mrs. Neutron lowered her head. "I'm not sure," she whispered.

The cop's radio crackled to life. He grumbled as he put down his paper and put the device to his ear.

"What do you mean they caught two of them?" he asked. The Neutrons and Libby suddenly turned their attention to him.

"Why in the world would you bring them here? There's a million hospitals closer," he said after listening for a moment. "Oh, you want them to see the girl?" He paused another moment. "The other two are dead?"

The officer was about to tell Libby something when there was a commotion in the hallway. "Move it!" a gruff male voice shouted.

Sheen was pushed forward, his hands handcuffed behind his back. He walked by Libby's door and winked at her. Carl was right behind her. Libby's jaw dropped in amazement.

"Jimmy died today!" Sheen started to sing. "I blew his brains out into the bay! In a sad state of mind, Cindy commited suicide!" he continued at the top of his lungs. He was led down the hallway by two cops, Carl a few feet behind him.

**Author's Note: I don't know how confusing this is, so please review and tell me. It will be explained in the next couple of chapters.**


	38. Alone Again

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy and Cindy ran to the other end of the woods as the shouts of Sheen and Carl faded into the background. Cindy looked over to Jimmy. "How long do you think it will take to get back to the other end of the woods?"

Jimmy thought a moment. "If we hurry, maybe three of four hours."

"You sure this will work?"

"Almost positive," Jimmy said with a smile. "Sheen and Carl fire a gunshot. The cops hear it and think that they shot me. Carl shouts Don't!. Sheen tells him that you tried to kill him, and to let you do it. Another gunshot rings out, and the cops think you die. Sheen and Carl surrender, the cops think we're both dead."

Jimmy paused a moment to take a breath. He loved explaining his genius to anyone who would listen. "A few minutes will go by before Sheen and Carl step out of the woods. The cops will think they're taking care of the bodies, which they will never find. We're still alive, after all. But what Sheen and Carl are really doing is killing an animal. I still feel bad about that, by the way. They smear the blood over themselves to make the cops think they were handling the dead bodies, then get rid of the animal carcass."

"They tell the cops that they shot me and you committed suicide. With them covered in blood, they just might believe it. they'll call the cops away from surrounding the woods. Maybe they'll search the woods for a body. By the time they test the blood and realize it's not ours, we'll be long gone."

Jimmy smiled smugly while staring over at Cindy. Cindy sighed and shook her head in disgust, but she was smiling a little.

"It's a good plan, Jimmy, but you didn't have to explain the whole thing over again," she told him.

Jimmy shrugged as they stopped and leaned against some trees. Jimmy tossed a water bottle to Cindy and took a sip from his own. "What can I say? I'm proud of it."

Cindy eyed him playfully while she guzzled down the contents of her bottle. "And, Mr. Genius, what would your plan be after we escape from the magical forest?"

Jimmy stared back at her. "We end this whole freakin' ordeal. I miss laying on a real bed. I just want to get home."

Cindy frowned a little and stared down at the ground. "At least the others are back home. They'll be in jail, but they'll see their families."

Jimmy walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Cind. We're going back to Retroville soon. And we're definitely going to pay your mom a little visit."

Jimmy put his water bottle back in his backpack and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Cindy stared at him as he slung his backpack over his shoulder once again.

"What?" he asked her.

"Did you mean what you said. You think I'm a genius?" she asked with hope.

Jimmy wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "Of course. You fell for me, didn't you?" he playfully tol her.

Cindy followed him as he began to quickly walk through the forest. "How do you know I'm not just being nice to you because I need your help?" she flirtatiously asked.

Jimmy stopped and stared at her. "Have you ever asked for my help before? No. Something's changed."

Cindy looked at the boy in front of her. With his determined eyes and sweat-plastered hair, he had never looked better. "Guess you're right," she whispered while scooting closer to him. She fingered the pearl still resting around her neck.

Jimmys smiled as he saw she was still wearing the necklace. He softly kissed her cheek. "Come on. We better get moving."

Cindy nodded as they began to continue walking. She suddenly remembered what she had wanted to ask him. "Hey, why did you make Sheen turn himself in? Couldn't Carl have just done it alone?"

Jimmy kept walking. He smiled, but she couldn't see it. "Would you really trust Carl with a gun?"

Cindy laughed. "Until yesterday, I wouldn't have trusted Sheen with one."

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah. Let's just hope he can do this."

"If he can't?"

Jimmy didn't hesitate to answer. "Then we die."


	39. A Tragic Tale

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Why are we in the hospital? I'm not hurt!" Sheen shouted as he and Carl were roughly shoved onto an examination table.

"We just want to make sure," a doctor said while examining the two boys. Three cops waited in the corner of a room, staring intently at Carl and Sheen. After a few moments of checking Carl and Sheen, he went to a corner and grabbed two small vials and two syringes. He took small amounts of blood off of each of the kids. He handed the vials to the cops. "I'll let you guys take this."

"Thanks," one of the officers said while carefully taking the vial. "The kids are ok?"

The doctor nodded. "They seem fine." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Well, I'll leave you all to your business," he said while exiting the room.

Carl and Sheen stared at the cops. The cops stared back at them, wondering what their best plan of action would be. As usual, Sheen was the first to talk.

"So, can we get a change of clothes?"

One of the officers, whose name was McGeehan, stood up. "When we get back to the station and we're done talking about what you all have done, then you'll get some fresh clothes."

Carl shook a little. "I don't want to walk around with blood on my clothes!"

McGeehan frowned. "Well you should have thought of that before you killed those kids!"

Sheen got angry all of a sudden. "We didn't kill Jimmy and Cindy!" he shouted. "We only killed Jimmy! God, were you not listening to the song?"

"Enough fooling around," officer McGeehan calmly said. "Let's bring you two boys down to the station."

Sheen shook McGeehan's hand off of his shoulder. "You can take us, but we won't talk until we see Libby."

McGeehan glanced at his two partners, who nodded their heads. He turned back to Sheen. "You get five minutes, and a cop is going to be in the room. You got it?"

Sheen nodded. "Got it."

* * *

Sheen and Carl took a seat next to Libby. Their arms were now handcuffed in front of them. Officer McGeehan took a seat in the corner of the room. He stared intently at the three kids.

"How are you doing?" Sheen quietly asked while reaching out and grabbing Libby's hand.

Libby smiled a little. "I've been better." She nervously looked at Sheen's blood-covered shirt. "What happened?"

Sheen bent down towards her and began to whisper. "Me and Jimmy..."

"No whispering," McGeehan shouted from across the room.

Sheen sent the cop a nasty look before straightening himself up. "Jimmy and Cindy went pretty crazy after these guys shot you," he told her while nodding his head towards the policeman.

"They actually blamed me and Carl. Like we could have done anything!" he said angrily. He took a deep breath and looked down at the floor for a moment. "Anyway, we went back to the woods. Earlier today, Cindy snuck up on me while I was answering nature's call. I turn around and she has a gun to my head!" he said convincingly.

"So she threatens to shoot me, says that I killed her best friend. Never even occurred to her that I was more pissed than her! I thought my girlfriend was dead!" he sadly said while a tear trickled down his cheek. He squeezed Libby's hand.

"So Jimmy bursts onto the scene, and he actually looked a little surprised to see Cindy holding a gun on me. He went to stop Cindy, and she got distracted. So I, always the hero," he said while sadly smiling a little, "lunged for her gun. We got in a bit of a tussle, but I actually managed to grab it from her! I shot at her, but I hit Jimmy by accident."

Sheen paused for a moment and looked down at the ground. McGeehan had scooted his chair a little closer to the kids, and was listening intently. Carl just lay back and closed his eyes. Another tear fell from Sheen's right eye.

"He was my best friend," he croaked. "He was trying to save me."

Libby stared at him, her brown eyes getting misty. _Jimmy's dead? He's actually dead?_

Sheen reached took his hand off of Libby's and wiped the tear from his eye. Five minutes had already passed, but McGeehan made no attempt to silence Sheen. "I killed him. I hit him in the head. God, you have no idea how disgusting it was. Cindy, she completely forgot about me. She was crying over Jimmy's body. I...I...I just dropped the gun. I couldn't believe what had happened."

"So we all just stayed like that for a moment. Then Cindy stopped crying. She turned to me. And god, her eyes." Sheen stopped for a moment, and a look of horror crossed his face. "I'll never forget that look as long as I live. The way she just stared at me, it was...it was like I had shot _her_. She was so quiet when she did it. She just...scooped up the gun. And I didn't do anything. I thought she was going to shoot me, and I thought I deserved it."

Sheen cleared his throat. "But she aimed the gun at herself. Carl shouted 'Don't!'. That snapped me out of it. I was afraid if I did anything, she would remember that _I_ killed him, and she would shoot me instead. So I told Carl to shut it, that she had tried to kill us. And she," his voice trailed off for a moment. "She pulled the trigger."

Sheen looked up from the ground and saw that Libby had tears rolling down her cheeks. He was surprised to see that he did too. "They're both gone, Libs. And it's my fault."

Carl still sat in silence, and officer McGeehan finally stood up. He walked towards Sheen.

"Time to go, kid," he whispered while grabbing Sheen and Carl. He also had a tear rolling down his cheek.

Sheen didn't resist. He didn't look at Libby as the cop led him away. Libby stared after him long after he had left, though. She just stared at the doorway, not believing what she had just heard.


	40. Saint Jimmy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, Jimmy and Cindy burst out of the woods and collapsed onto the ground. Jimmy breathed heavily for a few moments before lifting his head up. He smiled a little as he saw the setting sun paint the sky orange.

"Cind," he whispered while gently shaking her arm. "We made it."

Cindy looked up as well, and saw the same hill that led to where Libby had been shot just yesterday. "Yeah." She wiped away the tear that was growing in her right eye. "We're back."

"Stay here," Jimmy told her while pulling out one of his guns. He left his spear beside Cindy. "I'll make sure the coast is clear." With that said, he slowly walked up the hill.

Ignoring his commands, Cindy pulled the gun out of her waistband and began to follow him. After a few steps she stopped and turned around. Sighing, she put the gun away and picked up Jimmy's spear.

Jimmy paused as he reached the top of the hill. He turned around to see Cindy right beside him. He didn't say anything, just took a deep breath and looked ahead of him. "It's clear," he told her while breathing a sigh of relief.

"Good," Cindy said while handing Jimmy back his walking stick. He put the gun back in his pocket as they began walking down the sidewalk. "So what's next, Big Brain?"

Jimmy smiled as he looked at the city in front of him. "Nothing we haven't done before," he said while grabbing her hand, dropping the spear.

* * *

Cindy and Jimmy were still holding hands as they entered the mall. They eyed the hundreds of busy customers, all milling around the three floors. Jimmy squeezed her hand and pointed at a boy about fourteen alone in a video game store. "I think he's good." 

Cindy studied him for a moment. "Yep. He'll do just fine."

Cindy nodded at Jimmy before letting go of his hand and walking over to the boy.

"Billy?" she excitedly asked as she ran towards him. "Billy!"

The boy turned around to see who was shouting. He ended up doing so just in time to see Cindy wrap him in a giant embrace. Jimmy quietly walked over to the two of them.

"It's been two years!" Cindy happily squealed while burying herself into the boy.

"Who the hell are you?' the teen asked while trying to shove Cindy off him.

Cindy pulled back and stared at his face, her eyes watering. "You don't remember me?"

"My name's not Billy!' the kid shouted while throwing his hands in the air. Jimmy took this opportunity to slip his hand in the kid's back pocket. He pulled out a wallet, smiled, and walked away.

Cindy studied the boy for a moment before laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're the spitting image of my brother. Sorry," she said while turning around and running off.

A few moments later Jimmy and Cindy met up at a fountain. Jimmy was checking the contents of the wallet on a bench when Cindy sat beside him. "How much?" she asked him.

Jimmy finished counting the money. "Fifty bucks. Must have been saving up for something in the store." He sighed before putting the wallet back in his pocket.

Cindy frowned as she looked at the hurt look on Jimmy's face. "It's just money. His parents will give him some more."

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, guess you're right." He stood up and grabbed her hand. "Well, we better get going. Enjoy your last few moments as a brunette."

They both entered a K-Mart inside the mall and purchased some cheap new clothes. They bought some hair dye and headed to the girls' bathroom. Without hesitating, they locked the door and headed in a stall. They switched their clothes and went over to the sinks. They dumped the hair dye onto the top of their heads and rubbed it in.

They emerged twenty minutes later looking vastly different. Cindy was now a redhead in a dainty skirt, and Jimmy wore all black, including newly dyed black hair. They walked over to a piercing store and Jimmy got his lip pierced. He picked out a golden ring and spent his last few bucks on it.

Once they had finished changing their appearances, they sat down on a bench and stared at each other. "Nice," Jimmy said while looking Cindy up and down. He smiled a little at her girly-girl skirt. "Jane Austen would be proud."

Cindy blushed as she looked at Jimmy. She pulled something out of her purse, which she had just stolen. "Thought these might help your new look," she said while holding a pair of sunglasses. Jimmy grabbed them and threw them on.

"How do I look?"

"Very handsome," she said while kissing his cheek.

Jimmy took out his lip ring and grabbed her cheeks. He slammed his lips on hers. He nearly screamed out in ecstasy as she began to passionately kiss him back. He opened his eyes once she began to moan a little with pleasure. He noticed that several adults were staring at them, horrified.

"Let's go," he said while grabbing her hand and walking towards the other end of the mall.


	41. Metamorphisis

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Finally shaking herself out of her daze, Cindy realized that Jimmy was dragging her across the mall, walking quickly. "What are we doing now?"

Jimmy's eyes kept darting from store to store. "I need a tape recorder."

Cindy struggled to keep up with the now jogging Jimmy. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Jimmy smiled a little. "Because the sooner we end this whole ordeal, the sooner we can get back home and well, do that some more."

Cindy pulled on his hand and stopped him. "Speaking of which, what the hell was that back there?"

Jimmy looked hurt. "Did I do it wrong?"

"No," Cindy said with a faint smile while rubbing her lips. But she quickly took her hands away and shoved Jimmy. "Why now?"

"Why not?" Jimmy asked, his pure blue eyes sparkling behind his shades. He reached into his pocket and put his lip ring back in.

"Just don't go all Saint Jimmy on me, ok?" Cindy asked while grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

Jimmy gently kissed her cheek. "Sorry. Guess I got a little caught up in the excitement back there. But don't worry. I'll stay gold, Ponyboy. Got it?"

Cindy smiled. "Yeah. Alright."

Jimmy hugged her to his chest, smelling her red hair. He sank into her beautiful scent for a moment before coming back to reality. "Anyway, let's just get that tape recorder."

* * *

"Can I help you with anything?" a clerk asked as Jimmy and Cindy strolled through the aisles of an electronics store.

Jimmy looked to Cindy, who just shrugged. "Well, do you have any tape recorders? Preferably really small ones?"

The clerk laughed as he led the two kids a few aisles down. "Why? Are you trying to bug someone?"

Cindy and Jimmy stopped walking for a moment, which was enough to cause the clerk to turn around. Jimmy elbowed Cindy, who spat out a response.

"Nope," she muttered.

The clerk stared at them for a moment more before raising an eyebrow and turning back towards the aisle. "Anyway, here they are." He took a key from his pocket and unlocked the glass doors that separated the customers from the expensive products.

The man stared at a few before pulling out a tape recorder about the size of small clock radio. "This is the smallest we have. But don't worry, it's very powerful. It's three hundred dollars."

Jimmy reached out for it. "Thanks. We'll pay for it at the register. We have a few more things to get," he lied.

The clerk stared at the kids for a moment. "Do I know you two?"

Cindy laughed nervously. "I, uh, don't think so. We're not from around here."

The clerk stared at them for another moment. "What are your names?"

"Dave," Jimmy said.

"Sarah," Cindy quickly told the man.

The clerk still stared at them, the tape recorder in his right hand. A flash of recognition crossed his face. "Hold on one moment." With that he began to walk away.

"You think he's on to us?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy watched as the elderly clerk looked over at the kids. "Yeah. Come on," Jimmy said while quickly walking after the man. Cindy stayed right behind him.

"Sir!" Jimmy said while following the clerk. "Sir!" he shouted as he began to jog. He took a quick look around and noticed that there weren't many people. He quickly pulled out his gun and held it under his shirt.

Cindy ran through another aisle and cut off the salesman. The guy turned around, but Jimmy was standing there, the gun drawn out in front of him. "Let's go for a walk," Jimmy told the man. "What's your name?"

"Bill," the guy said after a few seconds.

"Then move it, Bill," Cindy said while gently shoving him. "Let's go to the bathroom."

Cindy and Jimmy smiled as they walked by several customers. Bill was smart and did the same. Jimmy's gun was a bulge under his shirt. They waited outside the small bathroom until the lone occupant came out. The three of them walked inside, and Jimmy locked the door.

"Against the wall, hands behind your head," Jimmy instructed while waving his gun at the man.

Bill did as he was told. "You're those kids, aren't you? The ones who tried to kill those cops?"

Jimmy didn't say anything as Cindy pulled out her gun as well. "Yeah," she said while cocking the pistol. "That's us."

"What are you going to do to me?" the man asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

Jimmy stared the man in the eyes. "You know how you said how we tried to kill the cops? Like you said, we almost did. But we didn't. We're not going to kill you, dude, as long as you do what we say. But you try anything funny, you'll be spitting out lead. Got it?"

Bill nodded his head slowly. "Good. Now you're going to stay here with your hands raised. My girlfriend is going to watch you while I go get something. She's a good shot, trust me on that. I wouldn't risk trying to take that gun for her," Jimmy said while backing towards the door.

"Wait," Cindy said.

Jimmy turned towards Cindy. "Three quick knocks and then two slow ones. That's my signal. Don't open the door for anyone but me. And you better hold onto this," Jimmy said while stretching out his arm and handing her the gun."

Cindy nodded slightly and tucked the gun in her pocket. Jimmy handed her his other gun, which she put in her other pocket. He was about to open the door when she called out again.

"I'm your girlfriend?" she happily asked.

"Is that really important right now?" an exasperated Jimmy asked while motioning towards Bill.

"Right. Sorry," Cindy said while blushing. With that said Jimmy quickly walked out the door.


	42. Tears

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

After waiting a few moments, Cindy sank to her knees onto the bathroom floor. She scratched her head with the gun. "What the hell am I doing?" she mumbled to herself while burying her head in her hands.

Bill stopped his praying when he noticed the girl whimpering. He stared at her for a moment. She looked a lot different than the picture that had been on the news last week, but it was undeniably Cynthia Vortex.

_God, what am I doing?_ she though as she slammed her head back against the wall. _Look at me. I'm holding a freaking grandpa at gunpoint and running from the cops. Whatever happened to the good old days when it was just aliens?_

"What are you thinking about?" Bill whispered.

Cindy sniffled and wiped her nose across her arm. "What the heck do you care?"

Bill shrugged as best he could with his hands behind his head. "I'm bored."

Cindy sighed. "I'm thinking about how much I'm turning into my mother."

Bill was a little surprised at her answer. "Your mom does stuff like this? Holding innocent Best Buy workers at gunpoint?"

Cindy laughed a little. "I wouldn't put it past her."

Now it was Bill's turn to laugh. "I've seen her on the news, you know. She doesn't look like a hardened criminal."

Cindy's expression became serious. "She's also a good actor."

They both stood in silence for a moment. Bill took his hands down for a moment to scratch his leg. Cindy didn't even raise the gun.

"Why did you kill your dad?" he asked.

Cindy's emerald eyes narrowed. "I didn't kill my father."

"That's not what the police are saying."

Cindy didn't respond, just went back to staring at the floor. Bill studied her for a moment. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because it's the only way to end all of this."

"End all of what?"

"It's a long story," Cindy sadly told him.

"What happened? What did you two do, exactly?"

Cindy lifted her head up. "You tell me. What are they saying we did?"

Bill's back slid down the stall door. He rested his hands on his knees. He stared at Cindy. "They say you killed your father and ran away. You stole a car, met up with some friends, nearly killed the cops that tried to arrest you." He stared at Cindy's hurt face. "But you didn't?"

Cindy shook her head. She wiped away another tear that was forming. She was getting sick of those freaking tears. She had cried more in the past week than she had the other eleven years of her life. "It was her."

"Sorry?"

"It was all her," Cindy said while tightening her grip on the gun in anger. After taking a deep breath, she took her finger off of the trigger. "My mom. Everyone thinks she's so goddam perfect. The mom with the perfect daughter. The mom with the perfect house. The mom with the great life. There's good old Mrs. Vortex. God, if they only knew."

"What happened?" he asked again.

"She had an affair," Cindy said, fighting back tears. She coughed a little, trying not to cry. "Good old mom, goddam good old mom. Cheated on dear old dad. I should have known. I should have figured it out earlier. Nobody gets that many parking tickets."

"What?" Bill questioned.

Cindy sighed, stared at the tiles on the floor. Tried to count how many there were. Nine in a square, twenty squares in the room. One hundred and eighty tiles. She was good with stuff like that. "That was her excuse. She was dating a cop. A captain."

"Smith? Captain Smith?" Bill interrupted.

Cindy nodded. "Went down to the station every weekend. Said she was a reckless driver, had to pay off some speeding tickets. God, I hate how she laughed about it. 'Gotta go, Cindy. Another fifty dollars worth of speeding I've got to pay off. You know how I am', she would say. Yeah, mom. I know how you are."

"Then what?" Bill asked, studying her face. He couldn't tell if she was telling the truth or not.

"Big surprise. Her lies didn't fool my dad long. She's so stupid. She didn't care if he knew. Didn't care if _I _knew. Yeah, she was a damn good parent," she seethed. She laughed, but a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Dad was never one to fight. Didn't inherit that from him, that's for sure. He tried to work it out, but mom didn't care. She didn't love him anymore. Do you have any idea how much she hurt me? Yelling that she didn't love my father? I heard her **every damn night**!" she shouted, pounding the floor.

"So they finally tell me. And big surprise, it wasn't the party of the year. She flips out. I think she was drinking. She was never much of a drinker, surprisingly. I remember once she came home when I was six, a little tipsy. I thought it was funny. Thought she was playing a game. Everything was a game then," she sadly said.

Bill was entranced by her story, the look on her face as she recounted every detail. _Maybe the cops were wrong._

"And she flips out. Shoots daddy dearest. Says she wants a fresh start. And of course she's going to get away with it, she's dating a cop. A _captain_. She's got connections. I...I tried to stop her. She was stronger than I thought."

"And then she turned the gun on me. I got away. I don't even remember how. I ran to Jimmy's. Guess that says a lot, doesn't it? That in my darkest hour, without even thinking, I ran straight to Jimmy's. I'll have to analyze that later," she said with a slight smile. Bill watched as another tear trickled down her cheek.

"So he takes me away. And mom lies. Smithy lies. They think we've been kidnapped or something. I don't know. I heard it on the radio that first morning."

Cindy sat in silence for a moment, almost long enough for Bill to speak. But as he opened his mouth she began to talk again.

"That first morning. A week ago, ten days tops. We were so different then," she said as her voice trailed off.

She smiled a little as she remembered that crazy morning. She and Jimmy could barely get through the morning without fighting, and now they were, apparently, going out. Jimmy had been reluctant to steal some donuts for breakfast. Now he was the one who had the idea to hold this man at gunpoint. What was happening to them?

"Anyway," she finished, "you pretty much know what happens from there."

Bill stared at her for a moment, and Cindy stared back. He didn't know what to make of this girl. "How old are you?" he finally asked.

"Eleven," Cindy answered. "But I feel like I'm eighty," she muttered a moment later.

"I believe you," he whispered.

Cindy looked up from the floor. "What?"

"I believe you," he said again, this time louder.

Cindy eye's welled up once again, and a small chuckle passed her lips. "You're just saying that to get out of this alive. You don't believe me," she angrily muttered, but her voice carried a faint trace of hope.

"Yes I do," Bill kindly told her.

"Why?" Cindy asked, her voice cracking.

Bill smiled. "I am sixty years old, Cynthia. I've raised kids, and now they're raising kids. I've seen a lot in my life, but I've never seen anyone lie like that. You're telling the truth," he simply stated.

Cindy laughed once again. "You do?"

He nodded. "I do."

Cindy's bottom lip was trembling. She bit it to make it stop. All the tears that she had been holding back finally rushed over her face, down her cheeks.

"Come here," Bill said while crawling over to her. Cindy dropped the gun. She didn't care if he used it or not. She let him wrap his wrinkled hands around her waist and hug her to his chest. "I believe you," he whispered again.

Cindy shuddered as she let out another tiny life. She felt like she was melting, collapsing into his scrawny arms. She felt a different kind of relief, a kind that Jimmy couldn't give her. It felt like...it felt like she was home.

"Thank you," she whispered between sobs. "Thank you so much."

Bill stroked her long red hair as she continued shaking in his arms. _Oh god, help this poor girl._ "It will be alright," he promised.

Cindy finally began to stop crying and looked up at him. "How do you know?"

Bill smiled. "I knew you were telling the truth, didn't I?"

Cindy laughed once again. She wiped the loose strands of hair away from her eyes and hugged him once again. "Thank you," she repeated. Just then Jimmy began his knocking on the door.


	43. Sleight of Hand

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy wiped the tears from her eyes and quickly got up. She picked the gun up in her hands and placed it in the back of her waistband. She unlocked the door and opened it for Jimmy.

He gave her a quick nod before walking inside. He threw two coils of rope and several handkerchiefs on the ground. He wiped his forehead and deeply exhaled. "Ok, let's do this," he sadly said.

"Hang on," Cindy said while pulling him aside. She began to whisper. "I don't think we should do this."

Jimmy gave Cindy an odd look before whispering as well. "What are you talking about?"

"Let's not tie him up," she told him.

Jimmy laughed a little, not believing what he was hearing. "Are you insane? If we don't he'll just tell the cops where we are. We'll get picked up before we get halfway to Retroville."

Cindy's face hardened. "He believes us."

Jimmy stood in silence for a moment, studying Cindy. "What do you mean, he believes us?" he asked, whispering even more quietly.

"He believes that we're innocent."

Jimmy rubbed his chin and shook his head. "You, you told him what's going on?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I did. So what?"

Jimmy threw his hands in the air. "_So what? _If he repeats that to the cops, Smithy and your mom will know our side of the story, what we'll say when we're caught. They'll twist around the evidence or something." He began pacing around in a tiny circle. After a moment he threw his hands up again. "I can't believe you told him!"

Now it was Cindy's turn to get angry. "I already told you he believes us!"

Jimmy shoved his face closer to hers. "And you believed that he believes us?"

Cindy took a moment to figure that out. "Of course I believe that he believes that I believe...wait...the point is he believes us!" she yelled out.

"I can't believe that you believe him!" Jimmy shouted again.

"I can't believe that you don't believe me!" Cindyt screamed.

_I can't believe I'm stuck with these two_," Bill thought as he stared at the two arguing kids.

Jimmy took a deep breath and stared at her. "You really think that he believes us? Thinks that we're innocent?"

Cindy's eyes turned from angry to pleading. "You don't have to believe him. Trust _me_."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I forgot how good you are with knowing when people are lying. Like the time that you helped Eustace? And then helped him again!"

Cindy's eyes hardened again. "Oh, just throw that in my face! I was young then!"

"It was five weeks ago!" Jimmy shouted.

"What about the time that I told you to trust me in that whole gameshow thing with Meldar? I was right then, wasn't I?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy rubbed his aching head. "Cindy, how do you know this guy isn't just lying to get out of this alive? The second we leave he's going straight to the cops!"

"You don't know that!" Cindy angrily told him.

"Well you don't know that he won't!" Jimmy shouted at her.

The two kids stared in each other's eyes for a moment. There wasn't a flicker of romance this time, though. Finally, Jimmy broke away.

"If he really does believe us, he'll understand why we have to tie him up. If he doesn't, we've done the right thing to protect ourselves," Jimmy sternly explained to her.

Cindy sighed. She knew there was no way she was changing his mind. "Alright," she furiously whispered. "I'll do it."

Jimmy nodded. "Good." He stared down at Cindy's waist. "I'd like my guns back, please."

Cindy pulled one out of her pocket. "You get one," she said while handing one over.

"Then give me the extra clip of ammo," Jimmy instructed her. Cindy continued glaring at him as she pulled it out of her backpack. She shoved it into his chest.

"Here," she said while zipping up her backpack.

Jimmy fingered it a moment before shoving it in his front pocket. He stepped away from Cindy and aimed the gun at Bill. "The tape recorder."

Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out the recorder. Jimmy walked over and snatched it out of his hands. He rewinded the tape and pressed the play button. He gave a satisfied nod when he was convinced he hadn't recorded his argment with Cindy.

Cindy zipped up her own backpack and walked over to Bill. "Wait outside," Cindy told him. Jimmy didn't move. "You can check when I'm done. I'll do it." After a moment of hesitation, Jimmy sighed and heade outside the door.

"Sorry, Bill," Cindy said as she tied several handkerchiefs around his mouth. He didn't resist. "He's a good guy. Really. But I guess I'm...rubbing off on him." She flipped some hair out of her eyes as she opened her palm.

"Don't break out of the ropes until it's been five minutes. Jimmy and I will be gone them," she said while placing a sharp piece of glass in his hand. He closed his fist around it. She had accidentally smashed a glass bottle in her backpack earlier when she hit it against a wall. She had just fished it out while finding the extra clip of ammo.

"He's only doing this to protect me. I'm sorry," she said while binding his wrists together, making sure the ropes were in easy reach of his palm. She then did his ankles.

"See ya," she said while getting up and throwing the backpack over her shoulder. As she opened the door Jimmy poked his head inside to make sure Bill was tied up.

"Ready?" she asked Jimmy.

Jimmy nodded, still staring at Billy. "I'll meet you outside. I have to pick up a few supplies here."

Cindy nodded her head and headed to the front entrance. Jimmy continued staring at Bill a moment longer before locking the handle and angrily slammed the door shut. He silently cursed himself as he headed outside.


	44. On the Road Again

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Fire burned in Jimmy's eyes as he angrily grabbed Cindy's hand and led her down the dark street. The streetlights flickered on as looked up at the sky. He was getting pretty sick of what he had become. He hated himself for tying that guy up. And the sooner they ended this whole ordeal, the sooner he could go back to being his old self. Not to mention see his friends and family again.

"Come on," Jimmy muttered as Cindy began to slow him down. "We're finding a library and figuring out where the heck we are."

"What happened to the maps you printed out before?" she asked while shaking his grip off of her arm.

Jimmy frowned. "Libby was shot. I wasn't really in the mood to organize our maps. Let's just get to a computer and they we can leave this stinkin' town."

Twenty minutes later Jimmy was sitting in front of a computer, quickly typing in various commands. Me may have changed a lot over the past week, but he certainly hadn't lost his computer skills. Cindy struggled to follow what he was doing as his fingers darted across the keyboard.

"Got it," he said. "We're in the middle of Oklahoma. Maybe fifty miles from Retroville." He exited out of the internet and began tapping the table. "Riding the bus is too risky. Someone will recognize us."

"And we're not stealing another car." Cindy shuddered as she remembered the last time she had driven them.

"Agreed," Jimmy said without looking up. If we steal some bikes, we could make it there in a few days."

"We could always hitchhike," Cindy suggested.

Jimmy thought about that for a moment. "Hitchike?" he asked. "That's too risky. Someone could recognize us and drop us off at a police station somewhere. We'd be better off taking bikes."

"Fine," Cindy glumly said as Jimmy got up and started walking out of the library. "We steal _again_."

Jimmy stopped walking and turned around. "We have to do it, Cindy. They're just things. The stuff we're stealing, I mean. If we don't do it, we could die." He stared at her a moment. "Besides, you're the one who started the whole stealing thing, right?"

"Well, it's getting a little insane now," Cindy said while continuing to walk out the door.

"You're just noticing that?" Jimmy incredulously asked as they approached the bike rack. "Things have been insane for a while now, Cindy."

Cindy reluctantly stood in front of Jimmy and kept watch as he took out the laser and melted the chains protecting the bikes. "Yeah. I know," she whispered.

After a few seconds Jimmy stood up and hopped on one of the bikes. Cindy took the other one. "Let's go," he said while kicking off.

Cindy lifted her hand to her face and frowned. "Jimmy, I can barely see two feet in front of me. We can't ride at night."

Jimmy nodded as they pedaled down the street. "There's a park three miles from here. We'll camp there for the night."


	45. The Key to Escape

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters**

The next morning Sheen slowly opened his eyes. He squinted as the bright rays of sunlight filtered through his barred window. Groaning, he pulled himself out of the top bunk of his bed and hopped down on the floor.

"Carl!" he shouted. Carl didn't respond. "Wake up!" he shrieked in his irrating high-pitched voice.

Carl's smile faded as he entered the conscious world. "My back," he grumbled as Sheen tossed him his glasses. He unfolded them and put them on his face. He lumbered out of the bed.

"You sleep well?" Sheen coolly asked as he interlocked his hands behind his back and paced the floor, staring at the wall.

"No," Carl whined. "You know I can't sleep unless my mattress is made with down feathers."

"Uh-huh," Sheen mumbled, not really caring what Carl had to say. "Turn on the TV, will ya?"

Carl nodded and made his way over to the small black and white television that was in their cell. He flipped through the channels. "Barney, shopping, barney, arthur," he muttered while switching between the few channels. "Billy.."

"What kind of show is Billy?" Sheen asked while feeling the glass on the windows. He wrapped it with is knuckles a few times. It was very thick.

"It's not a show," Carl answered while studying the screen. "It's some guy who Jimmy and Cindy kidnapped or something."

Sheen spun around. "What?" he shouted while running over to the TV and shoving Carl out of the way.

"I tell you they're innocent!" the elderly man shouted into a news reporter's microphone. "I know those kids were telling the truth!" The rest of the words meant nothing to Sheen as he raised an eyebrow, trying to comprehend what he was hearing."

"What is it?" Carl asked while taking a bowl of cereal from the guard. He began to dig in as he approached Sheen.

"Somebody is saying Jimmy and Cindy are innocent," a shocked Sheen told him. "That's..interesting."

"How so?" Carl asked in a deep voice, stroking his chin.

Sheen closed his eyes, his small mind trying to piece a few bits of information together. "Alright, give me a second. This guy says on the news Jimmy is innocent. The cops obviously hear this."

"Indubitably," Carl agreed.

Sheen paused another moment, deep in thought. "So maybe, just maybe, they'll start to doubt that _we're_ guilty."

"And?" Carl asked, getting excited.

Sheen snapped his fingers and jumped up. "And that means they'll lower their guard. Now is the perfect time to escape!" he happily shouted. "Oh, Jimmy would be so proud," he said while soaking in the glory.

Carl studied Sheen for a moment, not sure what to make of his plan. "What do we do?"

Sheen smiled a huge smile, thoroughly enjoying being the one who had come up with a plan. "Oh, it's so perfect. Let me see that," Sheen said while grabbing Carl's spoon out of his hand.

"Hey!" Carl shouted as Sheen snatched the silverware from his clutches. He turned around in anger. Suddenly he became very nervous. "Uh, Sheem..."

"Not now!" Sheen shrieked. "I've seen this in a dozen old films." He got down on his knees and clasped the spoon in both hands. "Oh mighty spoon, set us free!" he yelled while shoving it into the cement floor."

"Sheen," Carl whimpered.

"Shut up!" Sheen shouted back, dismayed at his now bent spoon. "Hmmm, what would Jimmy do?" he asked himself. His thoughts changed from escape to spoons with engines, spoons that were unbreakable, Jimmy's lab full of high-tech spoons. "But which one?" he stupidly asked, as if he could just reach out and grab one.

"Give me that!" an officer said while bursting into the cell and grabbing the spoon out of Sheen's hands and storming off.

Sheen turned around and watched his only tool to escape with be carried out the door. His disappointment did not last long, though. It was quickly replaced with new resolve. "Well played, Mr. Cop. Well played indeed," he said behind an evil grin.


	46. The Others

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Yeah, we're going to have to finish the case before the statute of limitations run out," Officer Marcus said to his friend while drinking a cup of coffee.

Another cop chuckled while finishing his donut. "Sure, sure. But what's really interesting is those two kids we got down in cell E12," he said with a smile. "Kid actually tried to break out with a spoon," he explained while chuckling.

Marcus shook his head. "Speaking of those guys, should we question their little lady friend?"

Before he could get an answer, three cops pushed past them and ran into the captain's office. "What's that all about?" he asked while following the men.

"Captain," one of the cops said while sliding into the room. "I've got the results of the blood test from that Estavez kid. It's not human. It's from a rabbit!"

The captain substituting for Mr. Smith turned away from his television screen and looked at man wielding the results of the blood test. "Perfect timing," he angrily muttered while shaking his head.

He stepped aside and motioned to the television. The cops stared at the television, their faces in awe. Bill was explaining how he had just been attacked by Cindy and Jimmy the other day and proclaiming their innocence.

"What the hell?" Marcus shouted as he slammed the desk. "I thought this case was finally going to be closed!"

Ignoring Marcus, the captain picked his phone up from the desk. "Yeah, hey. I need to speak to a Mr. Smith in room 312. This is urgent."

The captain put his hand over the receiver and glared at his fellow cops, who were crowding around him. "A little room, huh?" he tiredly asked. The cops took a few steps back.

"Nichols?" Captain Smith asked as a nurse handed him a phone. He grunted as he struggled to sit up.

"Yeah, hey Smith," Captain Nichols sadly said. "You seen the news yet this morning?"

Smith laughed. "I've been trying to rest, you know. Broken nose and a fractured rib. Thank god I was wearing a vest, huh?"

Nichols wearily smiled. "Just turn it to channel twelve, Smith."

Smith grabbed the remote on his bed and turned the TV on. His amused smile quickly faded as he heard what Bill was saying.

"Can you possibly?" Nichols began to ask.

Smith's eyes narrowed in hatred. "I'll be there in half an hour." He slammed the phone down on his bed and clenched his fists. "Bastards," he mumbled while painfully getting to his feet.

* * *

An hour later Captain Nichols, Mrs. Vortex, Mr. Folfax, Mrs. Folfax, the Wheezers, and Jimmy's parents were sitting in Nichols' small office. They all stared at the door as Smith came rolling in, sitting in a wheelchair. He and Mrs. Vortex shared a small nod before he approached the group. 

Nichols glanced at the eight other people in the room. He was sitting on his desk, a cigar dangling lips. He noticed the Wheezers coughing, and placed it on an ashtray. "I'm glad that you could all come here. Could someone shut the door?"

Mrs. Vortex walked by Captain Smith and closed the door.

Nichols nodded a thank you and turned his attention back to the group. "First, let me apologize for the cramped environment," he said. He still couldn't believe nine people were fitting in his small office. "But we have a lot to cover."

He cleared his throat before continuing. "I assume you all have heard the basic details of this case from my fellow officers over the past week, so I'll head right to our current situation. Mr. and Mrs. Neutron, as well as Ms. Vortex, your children are not dead. Through some, uh, misunderstandings, we came to believe Jimmy was murdered and Cindy had committed suicide."

The Neutrons glared at the captain for a second. "Yeah. I can easily see how you made that mistake," Mrs. Neutron coldly said.

Nichols cleared his throat once again. "But at any rate, they are still out there."

Smith finally spoke. "And they are still guilty," he muttered.

Mr. Neutron glared at Smith. "You haven't proven that."

Smith gestured at his wheelchair. "And you think I just decided to cruise around in this thing? Your son and that Cynthia did this to me."

"Now calm down!" Nichols shouted. Smith and the Neutrons glared at each other once more before giving their attention back to Nichols. "We have reason to believe that they are heading back to Retroville. We assure you, we do not want any more blood shed. We will give them every possible chance to surrender peacefully, and we will try not to use deadly force. But remember, your children are still suspected murderers."

Smith chuckled at the word _suspected_.

"The man they assaulted, he's saying Jimmy and Cindy are innocent. What do you have to say to that?" Mrs. Neutron asked.

All of the tension that had been accumulating on Captain Nichols reached a boiling point. He groaned and clutched his head. "God, just listen. I have been with the force for twenty years, and I have _never_ seen anything like this. We've got two kids who are suspected of murdering one of their parents, Mr. Vortex. They're running around the God damn Midwest and shooting at cops. Meanwhile, we've got their three friends chasing after them," he said while staring at the Folfaxes, Wheezers, and Estavezes.

"We think they're guilty, the evidence is there. Captain Smith is our finest officer, and he handled the crime scene. All of the evidence says their guilty! He shoots a kid, two other kids get caught and say they've killed Jimmy and Cindy killed herself, so we think we're done."

Nichols chuckled sadly, and everyone stayed quiet, even Captain Smith. "But oh no! Because this demonic case can never be that simple! It turns out the whole damn thing was just a ploy to buy Jimmy and Cindy some time! So now they assault some grandpa in Oklahoma or whatever. And that would be bad enough, but he is saying they're innocent! The guy they nearly killed is defending them!"

Nichols took a deep breath and reached for his cigar. He took a deep drag, not caring about the Wheezer's allergies. "So honestly, I'm really confused myself. So let's just get these last two kids back here alive, ok? Because I want to figure out what the Hell is going on myself!"

Everyone stared at him in silence for a moment. After taking a few deep breaths, Nichols spoke again. "I'm sorry. Me and my men are working double, even triple shifts for this case. We're all tired and high strung." He turned to Mrs. Vortex and the Neutrons. "We're going to get your children back alive, ok?"

The Neutrons nodded. "Thank you."

Nichols rubbed his temple and motioned for everyone to leave. They all did as he silently asked. Mrs. Vortex pushed Captain Smith's chair out into the hall and into an empty room. She closed the door and stared at him.

"You think what that old guy's saying will make any difference?" she asked.

Smith thought for a moment, but then shook his head. "I'll be one of the guys guarding the city limits. I'll find those kids when they try to get back here, and I'll kill them. We'll get their friends in jail, and this'll all be done. Ok?"

Mrs. Vortex nodded. "Good." She bent down and kissed him before wheeling him back out into the hallway.

**Author's Note: Thank you all for reviewing so much. But it's very important that you review this chapter. As I'm coming to a close in the story, I need to know if it's confusing. This is my longest story ever, and I don't know if I'm doing a good job of organizing it and stuff. So please let me know if anything is confusing you. I'll reply to the questions in your reviews and try to straighten out the mistakes in my story. Again, please let me know how I'm doing. Your review could make this story better.**


	47. Last Day of School

**Disclaimer: Really, do you think I own Jimmy Neutron? Well I don't. So there. Ha.**

The next day Libby was sitting down in her hospital bed, shaking her head in amazement as she watched the TV in front of her. Half of her class was sitting with her.It was thelast day of school, and Ms. Fowl had scheduled a trip to for the class to see her. As usual, the cops had only allowed this many visitors if there were two policemen in the room. They sat in the corner, also staring at the television. Everyone sat in silence, amazed that Jimmy and Cindy's case had just taken another interesting twist.

As the screen changed from Bill's face to the anchorwoman, Libby grabbed her remote and flicked the TV off. Everyone remained silent for another moment, until Nick shook his head. "Well, didn't see that one coming."

Ms. Fowl smiled a little and shook her head. It had been hard for her to believe that Sheen had been able to kill Jimmy. And Cindy comitting suicide? Yeah right. That girl was way too tough for that.

Mrs. Fowl turned towards Libby. "How are you feeling?" she carefully asked, managing to suppress the _brawk_ing noise her Tourette Syndrome caused.

Libby looked up at her teacher. "I'm doing fine, Ms. Fowl."

Nick thought a moment before sidling over to Libby. _Oh, what the hell. She's hurt, might as well give her a thrill._ "So, Libs, when you get out of the hospital and jail, care to grab a shake with the N-Man?"

Just as Libby began to blush, there was a loud sound coming from the hallway. "Slow down!" they heard someone yell. Suddenly Sheen, in handcuffs once again, slid into the room.

"She's mine! Don't start with me, Nick!" he angrily shouted.

"Cool it, Shine," Nick said while spinning around and sitting on the bed besides Libby.

"My name is _Sheen_!" Sheen yelled while sitting on the other side of Libby. Just then Sheen's escort, another cop, came in.

"Don't run away from me again!" he said while wiping the sweat from his brow. "You got it from here?" he asked the two other cops. They nodded, and he left the room.

"How are you doing, Libs?" Sheen asked while patting her hand.

"Fine," she said while happily staring up at Sheen. "Where's Carl?"

An uncomfortable look came over Sheen's face. "He's, um, doing something for a guy."

"Ew," the class shrieked while gagging.

Sheen took a moment to realize what they were thinking. "Oh, no! Not _that_! The cops are making him clean up the cells."

"Oh," everyone said at once, clearly relieved.

"So, it's amazing about Jimmy and Cindy, huh?" Sheen asked.

Libby suddenly became angry. "Why did you tell me they were dead!" she shouted while hitting him.

"Hey!" Sheen shouted back as she knocked him off the bed. He quickly popped his head back up and sat back beside her. "It was part of the plan. The cops had to hear it."

"And what would the rest of that plan be?" one of the cops tiredly asked again.

Sheen stared at him like he was an idiot. "Oh yeah, now I'll tell you. Because you decided to ask one more time, _now_ I'll tell you." He turned back to Libby and laughed while pointing with his thumb at the cop. "Man, they're pretty stupid, huh?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, _they're _stupid."

Ms. Fowl stood up. "Well, I'm afraid we have to go, Libby. An hour is the most the school board would allow us to spend with a, uh, fugitive," she sadly said.

Everyone said their goodbyes as they left and headed back to the bus, eager for the twenty minute bus ride back to Retroville. "See you," Nick said while winking. He was the last one to leave the room.

"Hey! Hold it!" Sheen shouted while jumping up. He tried to chase after Nick, but Libby grabbed a hold of his arm.

"Easy there, Tiger," she whispered while pulling him back onto the bed. Sheen grumbled and stared after Nick for a moment, but finally relented and gave his attention to Libby.

"So," Sheen began, "how long until you get out of here?"

Libby smiled a little. "They say I'm making a pretty good recovery. The bullets didn't hit any major organs, luckily. Maybe two or three more days and I can join you guys in that cell."

Sheen hid his worry for her by smiling. "Hey don't worry. Jimmy and Cindy will clear our name by then."

Libby nodded, trying to convince herself that what Sheen had said was true. "You know their plan. Do you think it will work?"

Sheen thought for a moment, thinking back to when Jimmy had explained his plan to him. He stared at Libby, then at the cops in the room. Finally, he nodded his head. "I'd bet Ultralord himself that it will."

**Author's Note: I started a Jimmy Neutron forum. You can find it by visiting my profile. **


	48. They Still Don't Know

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

As the last day of school ended and Ms. Fowl's class happily headed home, Jimmy and Cindy were trying to shield themselves from a pouring rain. Jimmy led Cindy into a small forest by the side of the road. They both abandoned their bikes and began walking under the cover of the trees. As she covered herself with her backpack, he found a small shelter underneath a large rock.

"Under here," he instructed her while sitting down. Cindy left her backpack aside and happily joined him. They had to squish up against each other in order to fit in the small space.

"Nice shelter," Cindy said while accidentally slamming her elbow into the side of the rock.

Jimmy smiled. "Short notice, Cindy." He stared at the rain pelting down on the ground in front of them. "It's been two days since we left the library. We're maybe, three miles from Retroville," he said with a mixture of joy and fear.

Cindy nodded. "This road does look awfully familiar."

Jimmy sighed. "I'm not ready to do it tonight. Want to camp here and end it tomorrow?"

Cindy sadly nodded. "Yeah. We need a rest."

Jimmy continued staring at the falling rain. "I can't believe it. We're back in Retroville. Well, only three miles away. Tomorrow this whole thing will be over."

"You know what the first thing I'm going to do when this is over?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy looked over at her and grinned. "Get started on your summer reading so you can beat me in English next year?"

Cindy smiled and playfully shoved him a little. "No. I'm going to take a long, hot shower. It's been a week since I've had one of those."

Jimmy laughed for the first time in two days. "Know what I'm going to do?"

"What?" Cindy questioned.

"I am going to give my parents the biggest hug I've ever given them in my life," he sadly told her.

"That's so sweet," Cindy said. Jimmy couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

"This is almost as bad as when the Yolkians abducted them. I've never missed them so much," he whimpered.

Cindy patted his leg. "Hey, you'll see them soon. Me? I can't wait to see my mom again. I can't wait to finish this," she seethed.

Jimmy smiled as he remembered something. "There's one other thing we've got to do when we get back."

Cindy shook off her anger and looked at Jimmy. "And what would that be?"

"We've got to get some money and right all the wrongs we've done on this whole adventure." He started counting things off on his fingers. "Pay for the car we stole, replace the bikes we took, all the food and clothes we swingled, apologize to Adam, all that stuff."

Cindy nodded her head in approval. "I'm glad you said that. I was afraid you'd gone all bad boy on me."

Jimmy laughed. "Just did it to survive, Cindy. I'm never going to steal anything again, not if it means living like this."

Cindy smiled even wider and grabbed his hand. She squeezed it. "We're forgetting one other thing we have to do. We've got to pay a visit to Carl and Sheen."

Jimmy nodded. "We really do owe them a lot. They weren't even supposed to be in this. They're in jail and shot because they tried to help us and believed in us." Jimmy smiled and shook his head, still not believing how many awesome things Sheen and Carl had done for him over the past week. "They're good friends."

Cindy smiled a little, but was really thinking about Libby. "I hope they haven't given her a funeral yet. I'd like to go."

Jimmy suddenly remembered his other friend. "I can't believe she's gone."

Cindy nodded and clenched her fists. "But we'll make her proud. Smithy and mommy dearest are going to pay."

Jimmy's eyes narrowed as his hatred for the two people responsible for his friend's death returned. "Definitely."


	49. Asthenia

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The next evening Jimmy and Cindy finally woke up from their nap. They were sitting under a small shelter they had made earlier that day. Cindy rubbed her eyes while Jimmy sat hugging his knees. "Sleep well?" he asked his girlfriend.

Cindy smiled sadly and shook her head. "No. You?"

Jimmy groaned and struggled to stand up. "No." He reached into his backpack and grabbed some paper and a pencil. He quickly scribbled down a few words.

Cindy walked over to him, her backpack slung over her shoulder. "What are you writing?"

Jimmy didn't speak for a moment as he finished putting the words down. "A note for my parents incase we get killed," he sadly said while folding the paper. He then kissed it and stuffed it in his pocket. He looked at the pencil and pad still in his hands, and then turned towards Cindy. "You want to write something?"

Cindy's lip twitched a little in sadness. "Who would I write it for?"

Jimmy realized she was right and put the pad and pencil back in his backpack. He looked ahead at the orange sun, almost completely below the horizon. He then turned his attention to the bikes lying several feet from him. "Well, guess that's it then." He looked at his shelter a moment longer, wishing more than anything that he could crawl back in there and hide. "Ready to go?"

Cindy also stared at the last rays of sunlight pouring out from the horizon. "Yeah, let's do it," she said while lifting her pearl to her lips and kissing it. "Let's go."

They walked over to their bikes and hopped on. They kicked off and began pedaling down the road, each push bringing them closer to home.

As the minutes flew by, Jimmy tried to reassure himself that everything would work out ok. _It has to work_, he told himself. _There's no way that we could have survived all of this just to die at the last minute_. He almost believed himself, but then he remembered that Libby had died.

Cindy eagerly kept behind Jimmy, who was pedaling slowly. She could have easily tripled her pace, but she wasn't looking for a way to get back to Retroville any faster. She was scared to death.

They rode in silence down the road. They both looked up when they saw the sign that marked Retroville's borders. They risked a quick look at each other. Jimmy was about to talk to Cindy, but he could tell she was thinking the same thing. _We're home_.

As they reached the outskirts of town, Jimmy quickly pedaled backwards and skidded to a stop. He whipped off his sunglasses and stared ahead at the now dark sky. He looked up as the first streetlights flickered on. He sighed deeply and tucked his shades in his pocket.

Cindy hopped off her bike as Jimmy took off his sunglasses. He stared at her for a moment before rolling his bike off of the road. She followed suit. "Hide them here. We'll go to your house on foot," he said while gently placing the bike on the ground and covering it with some leaves. He pulled out his gun as Cindy hid her bicycle.

"You got the two guns?" he asked her while inspecting how many bullets he had left.

Cindy nodded as she briefly touched them. "You got the tape recorder?"

Jimmy also nodded and held it in his hand. He then shoved it in the left pocket of his jeans. He paused for another moment before pulling out his lip ring and tossing it onto the ground. "I'm done with Saint Jimmy," he mumbled while carefully walking back out onto the sidewalk.

Cindy followed him. They carefully tiptoed down the street, not knowing what to expect. Cindy wouldn't have put it past her mom to place the entire police force around the border of Retroville. "I don't see any cops," Cindy whispered.

Jimmy leaned up against a tree and peeked around it. Nobody was there. "I'm sure they're not guarding the city, Cind. It's not like they know we're going to be here." Cindy nodded in relief and took a few steps forward. "I hope," he sullenly added.

Jimmy followed her as she led him down a series of streets. Jimmy couldn't help but notice how deserted the town was. There was nobody on the streets. He flexed his fingers for a moment and then resumed his grip on the gun.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jimmy and Cindy emerged onto their street. They stared ahead at their houses. "Looks like we're home," Jimmy told her with a small smile.

Cindy nodded briefly, but her face quickly changed to fear as she noticed two figures at the other end of the sidewalk. "Down!" Cindy whispered as she pulled Jimmy down onto the ground.

Jimmy did as she said and allowed her to pull him to the ground. He landed on his right arm, and the shock nearly made him pull the trigger on the gun. He looked in horror as he saw that Cindy's head was lying near the barrel of the gun. _God, I almost killed her_.

Time froze for a moment as Jimmy realized that he had nearly killed the girl he loved. For the first time, he truly realized that he had the power of death in his hands.

"I think they're cops," Cindy whispered, not knowing what Jimmy was dealing with at the moment.

Jimmy pushed the horrors of what had just happened to the back of his mind, knowing that he had bigger problems to deal with at the moment. He shook himself out of his daze, and refocused on what Cindy had just said. "Um, cops. Got it."

"What are they doing here?" Cindy angrily asked herself.

Jimmy silently cursed himself for dragging Cindy back here to this deathtrap. "Maybe they did know that we were coming."

Cindy clenched her teeth in anger. "You think Sheen told them?"

Jimmy shook his head, angry at Cindy for blaming his best friend. "Hardly. It doesn't matter. They're kind of in our way," he dejectedly said.

Cindy thought for a moment. "You want to, uh, shoot them?"

Jimmy quickly shook his head. "No. We'll do something else."

Cindy breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I guess we could try to sneak by them."

Jimmy studied the two men for a moment. They definitely appeared to be guarding his and Cindy's houses. He thought for a few minutes, but couldn't come up with any other plan. He sadly nodded his head and muttered his words of agreement to Cindy.

"Yeah, guess it's the best chance we've got," he whispered while looking at the landscape around them.

Cindy continued staring at the cops. "They're cops, not trained soldiers. If we're careful, they won't see us," she tried to reassure herself.

Jimmy nodded and tried to move, but he was paralyzed with fear. Only after Cindy had squeezed his hand was he able to start crawling through the bushes.

Things went smoothly as they slowly crawled through Sheen's yard. They went slowly, inching their way behind every bush and tree. The streetlights gave them enough light to see by, but hopefully not enough so that the cops could see them.

They briefly stopped behind a tree for a moment. _This is intense_, Jimmy thought as Cindy noiselessly plopped down beside him. "We're doing good. Maybe halfway there," she whispered, her voice barely audible in the still night. Jimmy nodded, and noticed that her leg was sticking out from behind the tree. He was about to tell her when a sound like firecrackers exploding pierced the silent air. "Are they shooting at us?" he nervously asked.

He got his answer when another shot rang out and splinters of the tree's bark flew by him. "Shit!" he angrily exclaimed, not worried about how much noise he was making.

Cindy scrunched closer to him and properly gripped her pistol. She mumbled a quick prayer while another shot rang out, and more splintered bark flew past them. She popped her body out from behind the tree and fired a shot at what looked like a cop.

"They're firing back!" one of the men shouted while taking a step closer and ducking down behind a fire hydrant.

"Move!" Jimmy shouted as another bullet flew by, this time going straight through the tree and nearly hitting his shoulder. "Is that even possible?" he asked, scared out of his skin.

"Obviously!" Cindy yelled while slapping him a little to snap him out of his fear. She darted across the yard, not believing how loud the gunshots were in the silent neighborhood. She grimaced slightly as a twinge of pain shot up her left foot. She dared to look behind her while she jumped forward. Jimmy was right behind her. As a bullet whizzed by his head, he slid across the ground and landed right behind Cindy.

Jimmy and Cindy were now hiding behind Sheen's house. The cops quickly picked themselves up and ran to the front of the house. They hid on that end. A mere twenty-five feet separated the two groups. Luckily, the Estavez's were not home at the time.

One of the cops attempted to come closer, but Cindy fired a warning shot at him. The man quickly ducked back behind the cover of the house. Luckily for both parties, it was getting nearly pitch black out, and the majority of their shots had missed by quite a bit.

"I heard you scream. Are you alright?" Jimmy asked while gripping his gun with trembling fingers.

Cindy quickly glanced down at her foot. A small trickle of dark blood ran down her heel. "It just nicked me. I'm fine."

Jimmy nodded. "So we just keep shooting?"

"Bastards!" Cindy shouted as another bullet whizzed by her head. For a fleeting moment, she felt guilty for using such language. But then she remembered her current situation. _If there was ever a time to swear, it would be now. _She remembered Jimmy's question. "Yeah, we keep shooting!" she angrily shouted at him.

Jimmy nervously nodded and held up his gun. He peeked his arms out from behind the house and let loose two shots. They flew by the cops, who were hiding, bracing themselves against the house.

"Don't waste your ammo!" Cindy warned him.

"We could draw them out," Jimmy whispered.

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Cindy asked.

"I'll run back to the tree and you fire as they take aim at me."

"No way," Cindy began to say. Suddenly she realized that something was wrong. No shots had been fired in a few seconds, and she heard a faint crackling from the other side of the house. _They're using the radio to call for back-up_. At the same time she heard a louder sound coming from around the corner.

She spun backwards and aimed her gun at the approaching cop. As she and Jimmy had been arguing, one of the policemen had broken away and walked around the house. He stood with his hands wrapped around his gun, but it was held at his waist aimed at the ground. Cindy was aiming straight for his head.

"Drop the radio or he dies!" Cindy shouted. "Do as I say or I'll spray his head all across the lawn!" she screamed.

Nobody moved for a second, especially Jimmy. He looked on in horror as Cindy kept her aim at the cop's head steady. "Get the radio," she whispered to Jimmy.

Jimmy nodded and went to get the radio. "Jimmy's getting the radio. Any funny business and the grass gets stained red!"

"Do it, Marty," the cop at the end of Cindy's gun nervously shouted.

Jimmy walked around the house and up to Marty. The man furrowed his eyes in hatred, but handed over the radio. "Thanks," Jimmy said while grabbing it with one hand, the other wrapped around his gun. "Shoot it!" Jimmy shouted at Cindy while dropping the radio and raising his gun. He emptied two bullets into the cop's legs. Before the man could react, Jimmy slid down on the ground and cracked his skull with the butt of his pistol. Cindy shot her cop in the stomach and watched as he fell to the ground, mortally wounded.

Jimmy angrily stepped on the radio a few times and pulled the gun out of the unconscious cop's hands. He ran back to Cindy, and saw her standing over the badly bleeding cop. The man shook for a few seconds, clutching his wound, before his face froze and he fell to ground dead. Jimmy looked at Cindy, who hadn't yet lowered her gun. Her gaze was set solemnly on the cop. "We gotta keep going," Jimmy said while grabbing her arm. She didn't move.

A few seconds later she nodded her head and lowered her gun. "We warned them. _Twice_," she quietly whispered. She took one last look at the dead body before following Jimmy across the street.


	50. We're In

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

The night was eerily silent as James Neutron and Cynthia Vortex darted across the street, their eyes set on Cindy's house. The only sound was the leaves crunching underneath their feet. They ducked behind some bushes as they crossed the road. Looking ahead, they noticed that their target was only two houses down.

"Looks like the coast's clear," Jimmy whispered to Cindy while popping his head above the bushes and looking around.

"How long can that thing record for?" Cindy asked while pointing at the tape recorder.

"I don't know," Jimmy confessed. He looked over at Cindy. "Why, should I turn it on now?"

Cindy thought for a second before shaking her head. "No, better wait until we're inside."

With that said the two kids sprinted across the two remaining lawns. They unnecessarily jumped onto the ground and rolled along the grass. Once they came to a stop Jimmy grabbed Cindy's hand and pulled her up. They ran up to the side of her house and plastered themselves up against it.

Cindy put a finger to her lips, and Jimmy nodded. Cindy slowly walked to her right, still grabbing onto the wall. She paused for a moment as she looked inside the window to her living room. She smiled for a second, relieved to see the inside of her house again. A spark of normalcy reentered her life, if only for a moment.

"Is she in there?" Jimmy whispered while edging closer to her.

Jimmy's words brought Cindy out of her trance and back to the situation at hand. She took a closer look inside and then removed her head from the window. "No, she must be upstairs."

Jimmy nodded. "Her car's in the driveway. She's gotta be home. Would she be sleeping yet?"

Cindy glanced up at the bright moon glimmering in the sky. "It's only around eight. I don't think she'd be asleep yet."

Jimmy nodded again. He continued walking around the house, bracing himself against the wall. He slowly rounded the corner and came upon the front door. His heart panged as he saw the fairly large dog door. Thoughts of Goddard getting smashed by Mrs. Vortex's car a mere week ago swirled through his brain. His resolve strengthened, he tightened his grip on the gun.

"Can we fit through Humphrey's door?" he asked while studying it.

Cindy stared at it for a moment. "Yeah, I think so. He's a pretty big dog."

They looked at each other, silently asking the other to go first. After what seemed an eternity, Jimmy sighed deeply and got down on his hands and knees. He slowly stuck his head through the door, and then continued sliding in. As soon as Jimmy was completely inside, Cindy followed suit.

Jimmy clasped both his hands around Cindy's right wrist once her front half was inside. Giving her a slight tug, she managed to get inside. She stood up and looked around, smiling at the grandeur of her living room, which lay ahead. "Wow. I forgot how much I missed this place."

Jimmy began to dream about his own house across the street, but quickly threw those thoughts out of his head. _I'll see them tomorrow._ He pulled out his tape recorder and pushed the _on _button. "Well, we're in," he nervously said to Cindy. She just nodded her head, not exactly sure what to do next.


	51. Up the Stairs

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

They stood in silence for another moment, their eyes darting across the house, searching for any sign of the enemy. "Follow me," Cindy whispered while tiptoeing towardsthe dining room. Jimmy nodded as she began to walk through the living room.

They were about to enter the kitchen when Cindy abruptly stopped after hearing a noise from the living room stairs. She spun around and heard her mother coming downstairs.

"Over here," Jimmy said while finding a place to hide. He grabbed her hand and slid across the floor and under their dining table. "Shh," Cindy told Jimmy as her mother finished descending their stairs. Jimmy didn't move a muscle as her footsteps became louder.

Their eyes widened as they noticed Mrs. Vortex's legs walk past. Cindy's pupils slowly followed her mother's path; her head remained completely still. Mrs. Vortex walked over to a drawer on the counter and began rustling through it. "Got it," she happily said to herself before closing the drawer and heading back upstairs.

Neither of them moved until they heard Mrs. Vortex's bedroom door slam shut. Cindy let out a small sigh of relief and got out from under the table. "Darn it!" she practically shouted as she hit her head. She immediately clasped her hands to her mouth. She and Jimmy glanced towards the stairs, but Mrs. Vortex didn't appear to have heard anything.

"Quiet, remember?" Jimmy nervously whispered as Cindy grabbed his hand and pulled him out from under the table.

"Shut it," Cindy angrily said while slipping off her shoes. She could see Jimmy staring oddly at her through the corner of her eyes. "They make noise," she explained.

"Oh," was all Jimmy said as he also slipped his off. They shoved their shoes under the table and slowly walked over to the counter. "What are we doing down here?"

Cindy answered his question by opening the drawer her mother had just gone through and rustling around. She pushed past a newly opened box of what appeared to be chocolate coins and pulled out two large knives. "Here," she whispered while handing one over to Jimmy.

Jimmy studied the polished weapon for a moment before slipping it through his jeans' waistband on his right side. "I'd rather use a gun," he said with disgust. He wanted to be as far away from his target as possible.

"Not me," Cindy said with a devilish smile. She was looking forward to see the look of pain on her mother's face.

Jimmy eyed her strangely for a moment. "Don't do what you don't have to, Cindy. That's just what she wants."

Cindy laughed a little. "She wants us to kill her?"

Jimmy shook his head. "No. She wants us to be the bad guys."

Cindy took her gaze off of Jimmy and back onto the shining knife in her hands. "An eye for an eye, Big Brain," she muttered to herself before tucking it down her right sock. She cringed a little as the sharp blade sliced a small line of her skin off. She could feel the thick, red liquid begin to pour out from the small wound.

Jimmy checked how much ammo he had left in his gun while Cindy clasped her hands together and quickly muttered a few words. She made the cross across her torso and kissed the dirt-stained pearl that hung around her neck. She turned around and looked at Jimmy, who did the same and looked at her. "Ready?" she asked without a hint of fear.

Jimmy glanced behind him at the stairs. He gulped as felt the blade's cool steel caress his right thigh. _Tomorrow it will be over. Tomorrow it will be over. Tomorrow it will be over._ "Yeah," he quietly told her. "Yeah, I'm ready."


	52. The Happy Couple

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

A little earlier, Captain Smith made his way down the quickly darkening Retroville street. He allowed his mind to wander away from those irritating kids as he pushed his wheelchair down the sidewalk.

"Captain Smith!" one of the two cops guarding the end of the street shouted. Smith sighed. _That's right, there are guards now. This'll be fine._

Smith immediately put on a fake smile as he rolled his way over to the two fellow policemen ahead. "How are you two kids doing?"

Officer Martin smiled as he saw how happy his captain was, considering the circumstances. "Oh, me and Pat here are doing good. Basically just standing here all night." He looked down at the Captain's chair. "So, how's your rib?"

Martin's smile faded a little. "Getting better. I'm gonna try to get out of this stupid chair later and walk around. But whenever I try to stretch my legs, my damn chest feels like it's on fire."

"Maybe you should try a Tums?" Pat dryly suggested.

Smith and Martin stared at him in silence. "Why don't you just stand over there, ok Pat?" he asked. Pat sadly nodded and walked farther down the street.

After a moment had passed, Smith and Martin continued their conversation. "So, Captain, what are you doing here?"

Smith nodded at Cindy's house. "I've got to go over a few things with that Ms. Vortex. She's such a doll, and she's so worried about her daughter."

Martin's wide smile shrunk a little. "Yeah, you can't help but feel bad for the parents. They all seem like such good people. Hard to imagine their kids are so screwed up." Smith nodded. "Well, better get to your business," Martin continued. "And take it easy, Captain."

Smith smiled. "Thanks a lot, Marty. And keep an eye out for those little bastards."

Martin laughed a little. "Will do, chief. Will do."

Captain Smith nodded and began rolling up to the Vortex's driveway. He took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

Mrs. Vortex's deep frown quickly disappeared as she opened the door. "Hello, Captain Smith," she flirtatiously said while helping him inside.

"Hello Ana," he happily said while she rolled him inside her living room. "You're looking beautiful, as always."

Ms. Vortex laughed a little. "Well you clean up pretty good yourself, Bruce." She dropped down to her knees and inspected the bandages around his ribs that lay under his shirt. "Is it any better?"

Smith nodded a little. "Yeah, it's a little better. Good thing I was wearing a vest when your little bitch shot me, huh?"

Ms. Vortex laughed. "Yeah, she never did think things through. Unlike us."

Smith smiled a little. "Ana, let's go upstairs. I want to, uh, _talk_ to you."

Ms. Vortex looked down at Smith's chair. "Can you go upstairs?"

Captain Smith nodded. "Just get the crutches and help me up."

Ms. Vortex quickly ran over to a closet and took out the crutches she kept for Smith. She rushed back and grabbed his hand. She hoisted him up and quickly handed him his crutches. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Bruce told her. "Go upstairs and get ready. I'll be right up. Just get ready," he devilishly said while eyeing her up and down.

"You got it, _Captain_," she whispered while giving him a quick kiss. She ran up the stairs and slammed the door to her bedroom.

Smith smiled for a moment, staring after her. He then turned his gaze downwards slightly and looked at the flight of stairs. "Yeah, this might be a problem," he muttered to himself.

Fifteen minutes later, he finally reached the top of the stairs. He opened the door to the bedroom and looked inside. "Wow," he mouthed without a sound.

Ana Vortex smiled at Smith's amazed expression. _At thirty-four, I've still got it_. "Come here, Bruce. I've missed you."

Smith continued smiling and looking at her flimsy nightgown. "Me too," he said while hobbling over as fast as he could. As soon as he reached the side of the bed, he threw his crutches aside and pounced on Ana.

Time became meaningless as the two entangled lovers became wrapped in each others' arms. Several loud gunshots pierced the air, but they could barely be heard over their moaning.

"Did you hear something, Bruce?" Ana asked as he caressed her waist and pressed his lips down upon her smooth neck.

Bruce's fears had briefly rekindled when he heard what sounded like gunshots outside, but he was in no position to worry at this time. "No, Ana. No."

Mrs. Vortex tried to contain her pleasure as he ran his hand up her now naked thigh. Suddenly, she remembered something. "Bruce, stop. Seriously!"

Smith suddenly took his hands away. "What?" he asked, breathing heavily.

Ana slapped her hand to her forehead. "Damn it. I forgot the condoms downstairs. Wait just one second, ok honey?"

Smith appeared thoughtful for a moment, but finally just sighed in defeat. "Alright, but hurry," he angrily mumbled.

"Don't worry," Mrs. Vortex seductively said while bending down and whispering into his ear.

"Hurry," he whispered while once again kissing her on the neck.

Mrs. Vortex nodded and hurried outside into the hallway. She took the stairs two at a time and walked into the kitchen. She left the living room and headed past the kitchen table. She continued over to a drawer and began ruffling through it. "Got it," she happily said while slamming the door shut and heading back upstairs.

She tossed the small package on Smith's lap as she strolled into the room and slammed the door shut. "Quick enough?"

Bruce tore the wrapping apart and tossed the garbage onto the floor. "Yeah."


	53. The Final Chapter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

An eternity seemed to pass as Cindy and Jimmy looked up the stairwell. They slowly moved towards the intimidating steps, as if their feet were weighed down. Each step brought them closer to the end of their journey, and they didn't know who would win.

At last, they reached the stairs. Jimmy's face rapidly switched from fear to excitement. He could actually _feel_ the adrenaline coursing through his blood, racing from his heart throughout his body.

He turned his gaze from the foreboding steps to the red-headed girl beside him. She did the same and stared intently into the vast seas that were his eyes. "You ready?" she asked while stretching out her hand.

Jimmy nodded and grabbed hers, carefully interlacing their fingers. He brought her hand up to his lips and gently kissed her fingers. "Definitely."

She smiled a little and squeezed his hand. Together, they slowly began ascending the steps. "Scared?" he asked her.

She took her eyes off of her mother's bedroom door and locked onto Jimmy's pupils. "Definitely."

They took their time on each of the dozen steps, trying to make as little noise as possible. After each creak they shuddered and raised their guns, as if inviting the enemy to attack. At long last, they reached the top of the stairwell and braced themselves on opposite sides of the bedroom door.

* * *

While the other two lovers took their time climbing the stairs, Ana and Bruce were sitting on the bed and quickly getting dressed. As Mrs. Vortex finished tying her bathrobe, Captain Smith was buttoning his shirt. He was about to get up when he heard something.

"What is it?" Mrs. Vortex asked as Smith's head jerked up and he froze in place.

"Shut up," he whispered while taking his hands off of the final button on his shirt and reaching for the pistol in his pants' pocket. He heard another barely audible _creak_ and took out the pistol.

With the fluid grace of an expert ballerina performing a ronds de jambe, he pulled the magazine catch and grabbed the ejected clip of half-empty ammo. He reached into his other pocket and grabbed another fifteen-found magazine, shoved it into place, and pulled back the slide.

"What the hell is it?" Mrs. Vortex asked again.

"Shut up!" Smith seethed. He moved up against the door, his index finger tightened around the gun's trigger that lay by his side. He placed his ear to the door and listened intently.

He could hear creaking on the stairs and voices. Straining his ears as hard as he could, he recognized the voices. He spun around and stared at Mrs. Vortex. "It's the kids."

Mrs. Vortex hit her bed in anger. "Can't those little shits just die already!" she whispered.

Smith took a few steps back and aimed his gun at the door. "Yeah, they can."

* * *

Jimmy gulped and looked across the door at Cindy, who was flexing her fingers and rearranging the grip on her gun. "Cind, you ready?"

Cindy thought back to Libby's face curl up in anguish as the two leaden bullets pierced through her weak skin, drops of blood spewing out as she let out a cry of pain. Cindy stared down at the gun and realized something. With every cell of her body, she ached to kill her mother, to let her feel the pain that Libby had. Every pore radiated hatred.

"Hell yes," she said while flinging open the door. She took a step inside, both arms outstretched, holding the pistol straight ahead. Jimmy was about to follow when Cindy noticed who was waiting for her just past the door. "Oh shit," she nervously said.

Those two words obviously told Jimmy that something was wrong. He jumped right at Cindy.

"Hello again," Smith said while grinning as Cindy opened the door. He squeezed his pistol's trigger just as Jimmy collided with Cindy.

Jimmy could swear that he felt the bullet brush past his leg. He landed on the floor of the hallway, about five feet from the bedroom door. "You alright?" he asked Cindy while jumping up.

"Considering," Cindy said while clasping Jimmy's right hand and allowing him to puller her up. She looked over the side of the railing and noticed the couch directly below. "How convenient," she muttered while jumping over it, taking Jimmy with her.

"What the hell?" Jimmy shouted as he fell through the air. He landed on the soft couch face first, but luckily he had shielded himself somewhat with his hands. Still, he could feel warm blood trickling from his nose.

Back upstairs, Smith had just fired a shot at where the two kids had been in the hallway. He ran over to the railing and looked down. Cindy, the devil that she is, had already aimed her gun straight up. "Hello again," she said with a wide smile. She emptied two bullets, but both hit the wall behind Smith.

Smith ducked and aimed his gun. "Hello aga..." he started to say, but Mrs. Vortex smacked him in the head. "Just shoot it!"

Unfortunately for them, this gave Jimmy and Cindy to duck below the couch. Jimmy realized that there was a problem with all of this. "From now on, we just shoot! No clever last words! Got it?" he shouted.

"Got it!" the other three said.

Jimmy prepared his gun and looked upstairs. Cindy's mother had retreated back into her room, and Smith was hiding in Cindy's bedroom. He quickly popped out and fired two shots at the kids. Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief as the bullets once again missed.

Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other and nodded, a small smile on their faces. They darted in opposite directions.

Cindy ran to the left and fired five shots at Smith. She frowned as none of them hit their mark, but the wall inches away from him was smoking.

Jimmy retreated back into the kitchen and hid just inside. He took careful aim and fired a shot at Smith as he reappeared from Cindy's bedroom.

"Damn it!" Smith shouted as the bullet pierced through his arm. He looked over at Jimmy and tried to shoot at him, but Cindy fired another couple of shots at Smith. He ducked back inside the bedroom. "Ana! Get the hell out here and help!"

Cindy looked over at Jimmy. "I think we're winning!" she excitedly shouted. She peeked her head above the back of the couch a little as she heard something. Her mother ran out of her bedroom carrying a double barrel shotgun. She aimed it straight at Cindy.

"Holy shit," Cindy murmured under her breath as her mother firedemptied both barrels atonce. Jimmy watched in horror as the buckshot shells blasted through the sofa. The resulting cloud of smoke made it impossible to see what had happened to Cindy.

Cindy's mother sank back into the room and began to reload her weapon. Jimmy peeked his head out from behind the doorframe and noticed Smith coming down the stairs. "Please...God," he muttered, hesitating a few seconds before settling on that second word.

"Why are you doing this?" Jimmy shouted while walking backwards further into the kitchen. He stumbled over a chair, but grabbed the floor as he fell and pushed himself back up. "Why are you killing us?"

Captain Smith hesitated behind the door and reloaded his gun. He stuck the gun inside the kitchen and fired two rounds. Jimmy fell onto the ground and clutched his left arm, his teeth clenched together in pain. "Bastard," he whispered while aiming his gun.

He fired two shots at where Smith's gun had just been, and the cop ducked back behind the wall. Jimmy crawled backwards and his behind the side of the refrigerator.

* * *

Cindy's eyes fluttered open as this was going on. She looked down and saw that she had a hole in her stomach. She clutched it and let out a few tears as she felt the warm liquid pour through her fingers. _God, please help me._

Cindy's mother carefully edged her way down the stairs, her shotgun aimed straight ahead of her. She approached the mess that had once been her sofa. She could see one of her daughter's arms out from under the cushion. She leveled the gun with her eye and gripped the trigger.

_Do it,_ she thought to herself. She tried to pull the trigger, but her maternal instincts got the best of her. She needed to look at her daughter, say good-bye. She smiled sadly at what Cindy had lived through the past week. "God, she's a tough bitch," she muttered while walking over.

"Cindy?" she whispered while putting the barrel of the gun under a cushion that lay over her daughter. "Honey?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

* * *

Jimmy quickly looked out from behind the side of the refrigerator. He saw Smith do the same. They locked eyes for a moment before they both quickly ducked back behind their barricades. Jimmy glanced down at his pocket. He knew the tape recorder was in there, picking up every sound. _Damn it, I need some evidence!_

"Why are you trying to kill us? Why couldn't she have just gotten a divorce like everyone else!" he angrily shouted, finally releasing the rage he had been holding in for the past week. He stuck his outer body out and fired three shots at Captain Smith's side. He smiled as the cop fell onto the ground.

"Damn you to Hell!" Smith shouted as he watched the blood begin to pour from the hole in his side. He placed his feet against the Lazy Boy chair that was nearby. He kicked off of it as hard as he could and slid across the floor, across the entryway into the kitchen. He fired the gun three times, and Jimmy got hit once again in the arm.

"I'm sick of you! Just die!" Smith yelled as his wound seared in pain from having slid across the floor.

Jimmy looked in horror at his right arm. It was covered in blood. He ripped off his shirt, screaming out in pain as he moved his injured limb. He wrapped the shirt the best he could around the wounds. "I hate you!" he shouted while getting to his feet. He peeked out from behind the fridge and shot the Captain in the foot, which was still hanging in the entryway from when he had slid across the floor.

* * *

"Honey?" Mrs. Vortex asked while sliding the cushion aside with the barrel of her gun.

Cindy quickly hid her hand with the gun under her body. "Mommy?"

Mrs. Vortex bent down and wiped some of the debris off of her daughter. "Honey, are you hurt?"

Cindy looked down at the bullet hole in her waist. She was already feeling a little woozy from the loss of blood. "Yeah." She paused a minute and looked up at her mother. "Am I going to die?"

Mrs. Vortex smiled sadly at her daughter. She nodded and brushed the hair out from Cindy's eyes. "Yeah. Yeah...you are," she whispered. She looked down at her beautiful emerald eyes. "You're so beautiful, Cynthia."

Cindy smiled a little as her mother caressed her cheek. "I know," she whispered with a slight laugh.

Her mother bent down and kissed her daughter's cheek. She then whispered in Cindy's ear. "I have to kill you, you know. I've come too far to stop now."

Cindy nodded. "I know."

Mrs. Vortex straightened up and grabbed her gun. "Quick and painless, honey."

Cindy watched as her mom picked up the shotgun. "Can I say one thing, mommy?" she sadly asked.

Mrs. Vortex nodded. "Of course, dear. And I know. I love you too."

Cindy smiled and tightened her grip on the gun under her back. "Yeah. I love you too...you sick little fuck!" she shouted while whipping the gun out and emptying all of the remaining bullets into her mother's chest.

* * *

It had been a full minute since Jimmy had last shot Captain Smith, and he had yet to move. Jimmy wondered if he was dead, unconscious, or just playing possum. At last he looked down and sighed. _Can't things ever be simple?_ He lifted up his head and slowly walked towards the cop. "Hey Mr. Boyfriend Guy." He paused a moment before entering the living room. "You dead?"

Jimmy stared at the body a moment longer. "Nope," Smith said before spinning around and shooting Jimmy in the waist. Jimmy flew backwards and fell on the Lazy Boy.

Smith clutched his waist as he tried to stand up and failed. He fell back onto the floor. He looked over at the chair, and noticed that Jimmy had moved. "Damn it!" he angrily shouted while raising the gun.

"Damn you!" Jimmy angrily yelled while standing up from behind the chair and firing seven bullets. Five of them hit their target.

* * *

Cindy looked over to her left and saw her mom's body. It wasn't moving. She let out a sigh of both relief and regret. She shoved the remaining debris off of her and slowly got to her feet. She clutched what was left of the sofa to help her up. She held the gun in her hand and tossed it across the room. She pulled the other gun out of her waistband and walked over to her mother.

"Mom?" she asked while kicking her in the leg. "Mom?" she started to ask again, but a bout of dizziness came over her and she fell down. She looked down at the hole in her waist, and knew that she had lost too much blood.

"Ci...Cindy?" her mom whispered.

Cindy looked over to her mom. "Yeah?"

Her mom gulped several times and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Cindy crawled over to her and put her mouth over her ear. For a fleeting moment, Cindy thought that her mother might apologize, try to right her wrongs.

"I...have," her mother wheezed, "kill you," she said while her right hand scrambled for the shotgun.

Cindy bent her head down and watched as a few tears fell off of her cheek and onto her mother's bloody chest. Without lifting her head, she placed the gun's barrel against her mom's temple. "Love you," she silently whispered while pulling the trigger. She looked up and saw her head lying on the floor, her face contorted in hatred and fear. "I always will."

She turned around as she heard a vase smash onto the floor. Jimmy was trying to walk over to her, but had tripped and smashed into a small table. He tried to push himself up, but couldn't. He crawled towards Cindy, and she decided to meet him halfway. She stumbled over to him.

Cindy collapsed onto the ground as she reached Jimmy. Jimmy fell on his side and grabbed her hand. "He's dead."

Cindy smiled through the pain. "She's dead."

They both allowed themselves a small laugh. They had won. They stared at each other's blood-soaked bodies, and then at their wounds.

"Are we going to die?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy nodded. "At the rate of blood we're losing, it is inevitable that we..."

Cindy laid her head back and closed her eyes. "No science, Big Brain. Not now."

Jimmy nodded his head. "Yeah. We're going to die."

Cindy didn't open her eyes, but she smiled a little. "I," she gulped, "thought so."

Jimmy slowly turned his head towards her, his strength failing him. He looked at the gun still in his hands.

"Did you get it?" Cindy asked.

"Get what?"

"The evidence," she asked, her voice hopeful.

Jimmy once again stared at the pocket that held the tape recorder. "No. I'm sorry. He never said anything that would help."

Cindy smiled sadly. She picked her head up slightly and slammed it into the floor in anguish. "Well, guess we scared old Bill for nothing."

Jimmy smiled. "Yeah. Guess we did."

Cindy moved her hand to apply pressure to her wound, but she realized it was pointless. She let it fall back down beside her. "What happens to the others? Sheen? Carl?"

Jimmy smiled at the memory of the two friends that he thought were still alive.. "They survived, didn't they? They're smart. They'll figure out something. And if not, they'll probably only go to juvenile hall for a few years. After all, they never killed anyone."

Cindy nodded. "They'll get a good lawyer. They'll be fine. And Smith and mommy dearest wont' be around to testify against them."

They both lay in silence for a moment. Cindy stared up at the ceiling, Jimmy looked down at the blood he was covered in. "It hurts," he muttered.

"What?" Cindy asked.

"It hurts," Jimmy repeated.

Him mentioning it reminded Cindy of the pain. "Me too. Thanks for reminding me."

Jimmy smiled a little. "Yeah. Sorry."

"It's ok," she mumbled. She tried to ignore the searing pain, but couldn't anymore.

"Do you have any bullets left?" Jimmy asked.

Cindy gathered what was left of her strength and turned over on her side to face him. "Yeah. Why?"

Jimmy stared at her with sad eyes. "I don't like waiting. Besides, it would be very poetic."

Cindy looked at Jimmy for a minute, the pain in his eyes. It was too much for her to bear. She turned her head away and started crying again.

"Hey, don't cry," Jimmy softly said. He reached out and grabbed her hand. "You don't have to. It would just be easier that way."

Cindy stopped crying and nodded. "Yeah. A quick _pop_, I guess." She thought for a moment. "I hope."

Jimmy nodded; he was tearing up himself now. He held his gun up to his head. He looked over at Cindy, who did the same. "Ready?" he asked. He sniffled and shuddered as a tear fell down his face.

"Wait," she said. Jimmy loosened his grip on the gun. She grabbed his hand and moved it to her head. She pointed her gun at his. "I love you."

Jimmy nodded sadly. He didn't attempt to stop the flow of tears. "I love you too, Cind." With that said they both looked away and pulled the triggers.


End file.
